Biodiversity crop plant

The Ethiopian region is characterised by a wide range of agro-climatic conditions, which account for the enormous resomees of agro-biodiversity that exist in the country. The most important of these resources is the immense genetic diversity of the various crop plants. 

In 1995 over 1.7 billion worth of glyphosate was sold. (The total world market for herbicides is estimated to be 14 billion.) This herbicide thus makes up more than 12% of the herbicide market. It has been more than 30 years since the phytotoxic properties of glyphosate were first described, and it is still an herbicide with great unexploited potential through the use of genetically engineered crop plants resistant to it. Whether such techniques are ethically acceptable and favorable for the chemical environment and biodiversity is another question. The debate about this will probably continue for another decade or so. 

Alternative crops Biofortification Diversification Decreases erosion Increases biodiversity Increases yield Increases soil nitrogen Recycles nutrients Pest control Plant disease control (2009) Deguine et al. (2009) Dordas (2009) Etchevers et al. (2009) Kalinova (2009) Knorzer et al. (2009) Malezieux et al. (2009) Palaniappan et al. (2009) Spiertz (2009) Zuo and Zhang (2009)... 

Jarvis, D.I. Zoes, V. Nares D. and T. Hodgkin (2004) On-farm management of crop genetic diversity and the convention on biological diversity programme of work on agricultural biodiversity.- Plant Genetic Resources Newsletter 138, 5-17. 

Ceccarelli, S. (1996) Positive interpretation of genotype by environment interactions in relation to sustainability and biodiversity.- In Cooper M. and G.L. Hammers (eds) Plant Adaptation and Crop Improvement.- CAB International, Wallingford U.K., Icrisat, Andra Pradesh, India, IRRI, Manila, Philippines. Pp 467-486... 

Organic systems seek to have a more measured pace of crop growth which encourages a more robust plant to resist pests and diseases. The greater balance of biodiversity achieves a more natural level of pest predators and a non-stressed crop is more likely to resist disease. Unless specifically targeted, some pesticides will kill beneficial as well as pest insects. 

An important consideration in the agricultural production of plants containing medicinally active components is that they are sometimes produced by, or in consequence of, microbial agents present in or on the plant. These also constitute part of the biodiversity regulated by law, may be pathogenic to other economic crops and are not always easily cultured. Production in the natural habitat raises no problems. As an example one may notice that the maytansinoids, ansa-macrolides, which form part of the chemical make-up of Maytenus ilicifolia and M. aquifolia, Celastraceae, the two species most highly considered for stomach ulcer treatment, have been shown to be produced by bacteria associated with the plants. ... 

The American Medical Association (AMA) has estimated that in 1999, 200 million acres of land had been planted worldwide with transgenic crops. The AMA further indicated that over 25 000 field trials for environmental effects of GMOs had been performed in 45 countries without noted adverse environmental consequences. Despite these conclusions, the limited geographical size and comprehensiveness of such trials confounds definitive conclusions regarding the potential for adverse effects such as enhanced crop pest resistance, out crossing with weedy relatives of crops, reduced biodiversity, nutritional deficiency of food sources, and toxicity to nontarget species. 

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