Topic > The need to conserve agricultural biodiversity

Agricultural biodiversity is defined as the variability and variety of plants, animals and microorganisms used in agriculture and food. To specify it, agricultural biodiversity can be expanded and classified into ecological diversity, genetic diversity and organismal diversity. Agriculture is not just a subset of biodiversity, it somehow encompasses units and habitats that are usually not accepted or recognized by some biologists as part of biological diversity. Agricultural biodiversity is the result of interactions between humans and the natural ecosystem and benefits human health and nutrition and is capable of providing humans with goods and services. It includes species used directly and indirectly in food and agriculture and species that are not included in the agricultural system. Diets, food intake, nutrition and ingredients for food preparation, kitchen processing and conservation are also one of the elements of agricultural biodiversity. Furthermore, agricultural biodiversity also includes physical, social, cultural, ethical, spiritual elements and elements that benefit and harm crops, food production and the ecosystem. For example, pollination is one of the elements that can bring benefits not only to food production but to the ecosystem. Likewise, pests and diseases are just some of the elements of agricultural biodiversity that negatively impact crops. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The number of successfully domesticated plant and animal species has declined over the centuries due to the simplification of agriculture also known as the agricultural revolution. The ease of cultivation, the nutrition that species are capable of producing and the species that can be grown in a particular habitat are the reasons for the simplification of agriculture. Over the centuries, natural and artificial selection have developed a complex diversity of local varieties or landraces. Due to the difference in external conditions in such type of soil, weather, climate, landraces or primitive cultivars have their own adaptation and characteristics such as nutritional value, use and ripening date. The simplification of agriculture has caused some controversy. Researchers have suggested that it reduces human dietary diversity due to agricultural intensification. It has adverse effects on human health due to the fact that humans rely on only a small number of crop species, for example staple crops, which are mainly barley, rice, millet, etc. and may cause malnutrition and are more likely to get disease infections. However, some researchers have suggested that by growing such crops, others can focus on finding other nutrients and thus have a balanced nutrition. In short, there is no denying that agricultural intensification has supported human population growth. The simplification of agriculture is mainly caused by modern intensive agriculture, while others are small-scale agriculture and other various forms of traditional agriculture, home gardens. However, the replacement of local varieties with more advanced cultivars has caused genetic erosion of cultivated species, resulting in the loss of local varieties. Humans worldwide depend on only 7,000 out of 400,000 plant species as a basis for maintaining adequate nutrition. These are normally cultivated crops, underutilized or orphan crops, plant species collected from the wild, wild relatives of crops. The plant species collected,.