4.6 Article

Crop origins explain variation in global agricultural relevance

Journal

NATURE PLANTS
Volume 7, Issue 5, Pages 598-+

Publisher

NATURE PORTFOLIO
DOI: 10.1038/s41477-021-00905-1

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Funding

  1. Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad, MINECO, Spain [CGL2014-56567-R, CGL2017-83855-R]
  2. REMEDINAL TE (Comunidad de Madrid)

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Analysis of 866 crops showed that historical processes affect crop relevance, with crops originating from seasonally dry environments having the greatest agricultural relevance and older crops tending to be globally important compared to crops of recent origin.
Human food production is dominated globally by a small number of crops. Why certain crops have attained high agricultural relevance while others have remained minor might partially stem from their different origins. Here, we analyse a dataset of 866 crops to show that seed crops and species originating from seasonally dry environments tend to have the greatest agricultural relevance, while phylogenetic affinities play a minor role. These patterns are nuanced by root and leaf crops and herbaceous fruit crops having older origins in the aseasonal tropics. Interestingly, after accounting for these effects, we find that older crops are more likely to be globally important and are cultivated over larger geographical areas than crops of recent origin. Historical processes have therefore left a pervasive global legacy on the food we eat today. Analyses of 866 crops showed historical processes affect crop relevance, as crops originating from seasonally dry environments have the greatest agricultural relevance and older crops tend to be globally important compared to crops of recent origin.

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