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Title: Origins of food crops connect countries worldwide

Author
item KHOURY, COLIN
item ACHICANOY, HAROLD - INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR TROPICAL AGRICULTURE (CIAT)
item BJORKMAN, ANNE - UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH
item NAVARRO-RACINES, CARLOS - INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR TROPICAL AGRICULTURE (CIAT)
item GUARINO, LUIGI - GLOBAL CROP DIVERSITY TRUST
item FLORES-PALACIOS, XIMENA - AUCKLAND UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

Submitted to: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/22/2016
Publication Date: 6/7/2016
Citation: Khoury, C.K., Achicanoy, H.A., Bjorkman, A.D., Navarro-Racines, C., Guarino, L., Flores-Palacios, X. 2016. Origins of food crops connect countries worldwide. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B. 283: 20160792.

Interpretive Summary: Evidence has grown regarding the origins of food crops- where each was initially domesticated and diversified. But the importance of these geographic regions in the context of what we actually produce and consume now around the world has not been determined. We analyzed how important each origin region is to agricultural production and diets in countries worldwide. Countries produce and consume crops from diverse origins, mostly using plants of foreign origins (69% of crops are foreign as a global average). Foreign crop usage has increased over the past 50 years, providing a novel perspective on the globalization of food systems and bolstering evidence for the importance of international collaboration on genetic resource conservation and exchange to support food security.

Technical Abstract: Research into the origins of food plants has led to the recognition that specific geographic regions around the world have been of particular importance to the development of agricultural crops. Yet the relative contributions of these different regions in the context of current food systems have not been quantified. Here we determine the origins (“primary regions of diversity”) of the crops comprising the food supplies and agricultural production of countries worldwide. We estimate the degree to which countries use crops from regions of diversity other than their own (“foreign crops”), and quantify changes in this usage over the past 50 years. Countries are highly interconnected with regard to primary regions of diversity of the crops they cultivate and/or consume. Foreign crops are extensively used in food supplies (68.7% of national food supplies as a global mean are derived from foreign crops) and production systems (69.3% of crops grown are foreign). Foreign crop usage has increased significantly over the past 50 years, including in countries with high indigenous crop diversity. The results provide a novel perspective on the ongoing globalization of food systems worldwide, and bolster evidence for the importance of international collaboration on genetic resource conservation and exchange.