Presented by Dr. Sarada Krishnan, Denver Botanic Gardens.

1. Conservation and Utilization of
Crop Wild Relatives for Food
Security
Dr. Sarada Krishnan
Denver Botanic Gardens
MSSRF 30th Anniversary
From 30 Years to 2030: Mainstreaming Biodiversity for
Sustainable Agricultural Development and Climate
Resilience
August 8, 2019

2. Goal 2: End hunger, achieve food security and
improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture
2.5: By 2020 maintain genetic diversity of seeds, cultivated plants,
farmed and domesticated animals and their related wild species,
including through soundly managed and diversified seed and plant banks
at national, regional and international levels, and ensure access to and fair
and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of genetic
resources and associated traditional knowledge as internationally agreed
United Nations Sustainable Development
Goals

3. IPBES Global Biodiversity Assessment
A. Decline in Biodiversity &
Ecosystem Services
B. Drivers of this change
C. Failure to meet goals
D. Transformative change
needed

4. IPBES Global Biodiversity Assessment
A6 Globally, local varieties and breeds of domesticated plants and animals
are disappearing. This loss of diversity, including genetic diversity, poses a
serious risk to global food security by undermining the resilience of many
agricultural systems to threats such as pests, pathogens and climate
change. Fewer and fewer varieties and breeds of plants and animals are
being cultivated, raised, traded and maintained around the world, despite
many local efforts, which include those by indigenous peoples and local
communities. By 2016, 559 of the 6,190 domesticated breeds of mammals
used for food and agriculture (over 9 per cent) had become extinct and at
least 1,000 more are threatened. In addition, many crop wild relatives that
are important for long-term food security lack effective protection, and the
conservation status of wild relatives of domesticated mammals and birds is
worsening. Reductions in the diversity of cultivated crops, crop wild
relatives and domesticated breeds mean that agroecosystems are less
resilient against future climate change, pests and pathogens.

5. IPBES Global Biodiversity Assessment

6. Crop Wild Relatives
“wild plant taxon that has an indirect use derived from its
relatively close genetic relationship to a crop” – Maxted et al. 2008
•Undervalued
•Underutilized
•Under Threat
• Crop improvement
• Pest and disease resistance
• Stress tolerance
• Wider adaptability to climate change
• Nutritional profile
• Dietary diversification
• Other traits – yield, quality, sustainability

7. Global Distribution of CWRs
https://hdl.handle.net/10568/74483

8. CWRs of India
• One of 12 global mega biodiversity centers
• With 47,513 plant species (incl. bacteria), Indian flora represents
12% of global floral diversity
• 17,926 species of angiosperms
• 811 species used in cultivation
• 900+ species of wild relatives distributed in 10 (+1)
biogeographic regions
• 215 economically important plant species domesticated in India
• 600+ exotic crop species adopted
Singh, A.K. 2017

9. CWRs of India – Inventory of Cultivated species and their Wild
Relatives Crop Groups Cultivated Wild Relatives
Cereals 28 70
Grain Legumes 18 36
Vegetables 105 168
Fruits & nuts 117 176
Oil seeds 19 13
Sugar yielding plants 3 18
Fiber crops 12 23
Forage/fodder 96 33
Spices & condiments 46 123
Plantation crops 20 21
Medicinal & aromatic plants 89 58
Ornamental plants 182 90
Agroforestry species 35 31
Others 41 14
Singh, A.K. 2017

10. CWRs of India
Geographic Distribution:
1. Western Himalaya – 125 sp.
2. Eastern Himalaya – 82 sp.
3. North-eastern Region – 132 sp.
4. Upper Gangetic Plains – 66 sp.
5. Indus Plains (North-western
Plains) – 45 sp.
6. Deccan/Eastern Peninsular
Region/ Eastern Ghats – 91 sp.
7. Malabar/Western Peninsular
Region/Western Ghats – 145 sp.
Pandey et al. 2005; 2008

11. • 21 Chapters
• 3 Sections
1. Importance of wild
relatives
2. Wild Relatives Distribution
and Diversity in Different
Crop Groups
3. Conservation of Wild
Relatives
CWRs of India

12. Developing a National
Strategy for
Conservation & Use of
Crop Wild Relatives
FAO 2017:
VOLUNTARY GUIDELINES FOR THE CONSERVATION
AND SUSTAINABLE USE OF CROP WILD
RELATIVES AND WILD FOOD PLANTS

13. North American CWR
Roadmap
1. Understand and document NA’s
CWRs and wild utilized plants
2. Protect threatened species in their
natural habitats
3. Collect and conserve ex situ the
diversity of prioritized species
4. Make this diversity accessible and
attractive for plant breeding,
research and education
5. Raise public awareness of their
value and the threats to their
persistence

14. Thank You!