Agricultural biological diversity – or agrobiodiversity for short – embraces all components of biodiversity of relevance to food and agriculture. This includes all organisms that contribute to sustaining the key functions of agro-ecosystems.

Agrobiodiversity has three levels:

• all cultivated and domesticated animal and plant species and their wild relatives components that contribute to maintaining the key functions of agricultura
• ecosystems (agro-ecosystems), such as bees for pollination or beneficials to control pests
• managed stocks of wild animals and plants.

Agrobiodiversity is the outcome of thousands of years of effort by farmers. Selection and breeding created species, breeds and varieties that are adapted optimally to the conditions in their regions of origin and best match the needs of their breeders.

Plant and animal genetic resources are the source material for further development, by breeders and farmers, of cultivated crop varieties and domesticated animal breeds. The variety of these resources harbours a rich gene pool, which breeders can use to cope with new challenges such as adaptation to climate change.

The following map shows the centres of diversity after Vavilov. All the crop varieties used to this day originate here. What’s more, these areas continue to be home to the largest pool of agricultural biodiversity.

Vavilov’s centres of origin of cultivated plants:

1. The South-Asiatic tropical centre (most of South and Southeast Asia): Rice, sugar cane, and a large number of tropical fruits and vegetable crops
2. The East-Asiatic centre (comprising East China, Taiwan, Korea and Japan): Soybeans, different species of millet, the majority of vegetable crops and very many fruits
3. South-western-Asiatic centre (from Turkey to Kashmir): Majority of endemic species of wheat, rye and fruits, pea, chickpea and lentil
4. Mediterranean centre (Mediterranean countries): Olives, carob tree, a multitude of vegetable and forage plants
5. Abyssinian centre (Highlands of Ethiopia, Eritrea, south-western parts of Arabia/Yemen): Teff, Arabica coffee, sorghum, endemic species of wheat, barley and the enset banana
6. Central American centre (the northern parts and islands of Central America): Maize, several species of cotton, beans, gourds, cocoa, and probably sweet potatoes, yams, pep-pers and fruits
7. Andean centre (surroundings of the three foci in South America): Potatoes and other tuber-producing species, the quinine tree, the coca bush

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