Once developed, these two varieties of wild maize conveyed resistance to seven of the domestic crop's major diseases. Called the botanical find of the century, they might have been missed entirely. Only a few stalks of these ancient progenitors were found in an abandoned lot slated for development. Continued genetic erosion of the wild relatives of domestic cultivars continues. The prognosis is not good, unless ways can be found to conserve areas of high biological diversity in their natural environment.
Seed banks contain a growing ex situ collection of wild plant varieties.
However, once collected and frozen in a gene bank they may be saved, but they cannot evolve further. Both types of seed banks need to be expanded. According to experts like Lester Brown of the Worldwatch Institute and Paul and Anne Ehrlich of Stanford University, there are three fundamental issues that need to be addressed before sustainable agricultural systems can be successfully introduced into many food deficit countries. First, as a result of inequitable land use, mounting population pressures and migration, the capacity of farming communities in developing countries to produce food, manage land and protect the environment is being undermined. Second, despite adequate food supplies on a global level, food is neither produced nor consumed equitably.