HUNDREDS of vital crops are in danger of extinction because they are being
neglected by scientists, says a leading biologist.
In the first inventory of its kind, Stefano Padulosi of the International
Plant Genetic Resources Institute in Rome looked at how many samples of
crops—beyond the magic circle of global crops such as wheat and
rice—are held by seed banks. Examining the 5300 species of food plants
that have been collected, he found that for 80 per cent of them there were fewer
than 10 samples in store. More than half are represented by only a single
sample, even though each species can have hundreds or thousands of varieties.
“Many other species have never been surveyed or collected,” he warns.
Mango, pineapple and herbs such as oregano, which is mostly harvested in
Morocco, are among the crops that are fast losing their genetic base in the
wild, the conference heard. New Guinea has around a thousand varieties of sweet
potato, but most of them are uncollected and undocumented. Many of the 2000
apple varieties in England only exist at one site.
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Such minor crops are vital to the economies of many communities and even
whole countries. “We should stop neglecting them in our research,” Padulosi told
plant scientists at the meeting.
He called for seed banks, many of which have largely given up adding to their
collections, to make up for lost time, as many threatened crops are superior to
modern plant varieties. For example, little-known Andean grains have more
protein than wheat, and a survey of leafy vegetables in Africa revealed that
many had more vitamins and nutrients than spinach.