FAO book celebrates diversity in food crops in Southern Caucasus
The diversity of food crops found in the Southern Caucasus is being celebrated in a new book published by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.
Because of its productivity, the Caucasian bee is used all over the world
The book, entitled “Gardens of Biodiversity” is part of FAO’s contribution to the International Year of Biodiversity.
Gerry Adams reports.
FAO says that the Southern Caucasus, comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, was one of the places where human beings first practiced agriculture around 10,000 years ago.
According to the agency, food crops such as wheat and grapes have their ancestral home in the region which is also where apples, apricots, pomegranates, pears and peas originated.
FAO points out that today the Southern Caucasus is still one of the world’s hotspots of biodiversity for food and agriculture and all of its three countries maintain rich collections in their national seed banks.
The agency says that scientists are constantly working on selections of wheat varieties with potential for better yields and resistance to pests.
Gerry Adams at the United Nations.
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