One of the biggest concerns regarding the global food and farming system is the alarming decline in crop diversity in recent decades. Not only has the number of crops grown on farms diminished, but the diversity of crop varieties has also eroded, leaving behind a narrower genetic base.
For over ten thousand years, crop diversity evolved in nature and on farms through the efforts, wisdom, and experiments of countless generations of farmers. This heritage—thousands of varieties and cultivars—has been lost on a massive scale in just a few decades.
The disappearance of crop varieties is deeply worrying for several reasons. These varieties were preserved because of their unique value: they provided specific kinds of food, adapted to particular environments, resisted pests and diseases, or offered other benefits. Their loss not only reduces present-day options but also limits the ability of future generations to safeguard crops against adverse weather, diseases, and pests. At a time of climate change, when greater diversity is essential to meet new challenges, the opposite trend is unfolding.
The official response, both nationally and internationally, has been to create gene banks for conserving germplasm. While these play an important role, they are increasingly dominated by corporate interests and multinational companies that may prioritize profits and control. What was once freely available on the farms of millions of farmers worldwide is now concentrated in a few institutions, raising concerns about accessibility and misuse. Moreover, conservation in laboratory conditions is fragile and uncertain; true protection lies in preserving biodiversity on farms.
Experts and farmers’ movements have therefore stressed the importance of enabling conditions that allow biodiversity to flourish in farmers’ fields. This ensures accessibility for all, much as it was in earlier times when farmers collectively nurtured biodiversity as a shared heritage. However, laws and patents on seeds and plants often act as barriers, further limiting farmers’ rights and freedom.
The Green Revolution reinforced these problems by promoting exotic, uniform varieties suited to heavy chemical use while dismissing traditional crop diversity as outdated. Local varieties that had proven resilience and high yields under natural conditions were neglected. Although yield increases were promised, they came with severe costs to soil, water, and the environment, raising questions about the long-term benefits of this model. Tragically, centuries of accumulated biodiversity were displaced by commercial varieties tied to agribusiness interests.
This was followed by the spread of plant patents and intellectual property rights in agriculture. Initially viewed as absurd when applied to something long regarded as a shared resource, patents gained dominance through the influence of powerful corporations. As a result, the task of protecting biodiversity on farmers’ fields and maintaining it as a common heritage has become more difficult, as profit-driven forces consolidate their control over seeds.
In these circumstances, two objectives must be reaffirmed. First, farm biodiversity must be preserved as a priority, primarily in farmers’ fields, with gene banks playing only a supportive role. Second, all farm biodiversity should be recognized as the common heritage of humankind—freely shared, exchanged, cultivated, conserved, and celebrated.
Those working toward these goals are rendering an invaluable service to humanity, to farming, and to the future of food security. Yet some initiatives stop short due to compromises with prevailing trends. In the present difficult conditions, it is crucial to adopt a more public-spirited approach that safeguards biodiversity and farmers’ rights without dilution.
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The writer is Honorary Convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now. His recent books include Protecting Earth for Children, Man over Machine, Planet in Peril, and India’s Quest for Sustainable Farming and Healthy Food
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