Agro Biodiversity

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The interplay of genetic resources, culturally different people's management methods and systems, and the environment leads to agrobiodiversity. This is the outcome of millennia of human creativity combined with natural selection.

• It includes the variety of genetic resources (breeds, varieties) and species that are utilized to produce fuel, food, fiber, fodder, and medicines.

• It also encompasses the diversity of agro-ecosystems themselves, as well as the diversity of non-harvested species that sustain production (pollinators, predators, and soil microbes) and agro-ecosystems in the larger environment (forest, aquatic, pastoral, and agricultural).
 

Benefits

• Boosts economic returns, food security, and productivity.
• Lessens the impact of agriculture on forests, sensitive areas, and threatened or endangered species.
• Improves the resilience, stability, and sustainability of farming systems.
• Supports effective control of diseases and pests
• Preserves soil and improves its natural fertility and condition.
• Lessens reliance on outside resources.
• Enhances human nutrition and offers vitamin and medication supplies.
• Preserve species variety stability and the structure of ecosystems.

Challenges

• Crop genetic resource loss as a result of implementing new crop types without preserving older ones. For instance, Bt cotton.Comparably, high output breeds that produce a lot of meat, milk, and eggs are a source of concern. The genetically varied pool is eroded when native breeds and alien breeds are crossed.
• Approximately 7,000 of the 2,50,000 plant species known to exist today have been employed traditionally in human meals.
These days, the world's agriculture is based on about thirty crops, and the world's daily calories come from just three species : rice, wheat, and maize.