ABSTRACT
The global policy agenda of agriculture is based around producing sufficient food, feed, and fiber to meet the needs of the world's growing population. This chapter explains the center of origin of many common crop species, the occurrence and distribution of their wild relatives, their herbicide tolerant traits, and their potential for inter-specific gene flow. Pearl millet is a resilient plant tolerant to adverse growing environments including drought, high temperatures, low fertility, high salinity, and low pH levels. Rice is one of the world's most important crops, and is the primary food source for half of the world's population. Sorghum is the fifth most important cereal crop in the world after corn, rice, wheat, and barley. Soybean, a species native to eastern Asia, emerged as a domesticated crop around the eleventh century BC in northern and central China.
