But this biodiversity is not just raw material for industrial agriculture. It is key to food security and sustainability that enables poor farmers to adapt crops and animals to their own ecological needs. The industrial agriculture that is displacing more diverse, traditional agricultural systems is the main culprit. Beginning in the 1960s and 1970s, the Green Revolution introduced high-yielding varieties of rice and wheat to the South, replacing traditional crop varieties and their wild relatives on a massive scale. This process continues and, as uniform plant varieties move in, traditional ones disappear.
Industrial agriculture requires genetic uniformity.
Such uniform crops are breeding grounds of potential disaster due to vulnerability to pests or disease. The same is true with livestock. The introduction of 'modern' breeds selected solely to maximize production has displaced or diluted indigenous livestock breeds worldwide. The spread of industrial agriculture in the South places thousands of native breeds at risk. The wealth of traditional knowledge held, from the Ethiopian Highlands to South India, is also becoming an endangered resource.