The goal of in situ conservation is to encourage farmers to continue to select and manage local erop populations (Brush 1999). In situ conservation aims to conserve not onIy genes themselves but also the farming systems and agroecosystems that produce...

On-farm conservation is a process of the continuous cultivation and management of a diverse set of populations by farmers in the agro-ecosystem where a crop has evolved. The continued evolution and adaptation of a species/ cultivar, including adaptation to climate...

Small farms play a crucial role in conserving the agricultural biodiversity that underpins longterm food security worldwide. Particularly in centers of crop genetic diversity – such as Mesoamerica in the case of maize (corn) and the Andean region in the...

Agricultural biodiversity has hitherto been valued almost exclusively as a source of traits that can be used in scientific breeding programs to improve the productivity of crop varieties and livestock breeds. We argue that it can make a far greater...

Recent studies have revealed many potential benefits of increasing plant diversity in natural ecosystems, as well as in agroecosystems and production forests. Plant diversity potentially provides a partial to complete substitute for many costly agricultural inputs, such as fertilizers, pesticides,...