A report by the Worldwatch Institute, based in Washington DC, says the genetic diversity of the plants humanity relies on is being eroded at a dangerous rate.
Biotechnology is no solution.
We are increasingly skilful at moving genes around, but only nature can create them. If a plant bearing a unique genetic trait disappears, there is no way to get it back. Yet plant breeders often turn to wild relatives of domestic crops in search of desirable traits like disease resistance. Fifty years ago Chinese farmers were estimated to have been growing 10,000 varieties of wheat. By the 1970s, that figure had fallen to about 1,000.