ABSTRACT
Agriculture has played a major role in socio-economic change worldwide, and was the key development that led to the rise of human civilization. Today, more than ever, agriculture remains the key factor in human growth and development. Without doubt, plants can be said to be our ‘bread and butter’, the fundamental basis of human and animal nutrition. Moreover, plants are one of the most important species on Earth, controlling our food production and human sustenance. With the predicted increases in human population to 9 billion by 2040 from 6.8 billion as of December 2009 (U.S. Census Bureau, International Data Base, www.un.org/esa/population/publications/longrange2/ WorldPop2300nal.pdf.), there is a looming uncertainty on the state of food production. The major agricultural products can be broadly grouped into foods, bres, fuels and raw material (Figure 19.1). Plants are also being used as a source of biofuels, bioplastics (www.marketwatch.com/story/bioengineers-aim-to-cash-in-on-plants-that-make-green-plastics) and biopharmaceuticals. Hence, agriculture has a direct and indirect impact on the livelihood of all human beings. In the year 2007, about one-third of the world’s workers were employed in agriculture. Introduction of various crops followed by their domestication and adoption in different regions of the world has played an important role in framing food habits of populations. In Figure 19.2, we highlight cultivation of major crops in different continents of the Earth. Looking at this gure, it can be said that many crops are common to continents and thus serve as the common source of food (and nutrition) to the people
19.7 Exploitation of Natural Genetic Resources Using Established Molecular-and Biomarkers .................................................................................................. 471 19.8 Next-Generation Crops ......................................................................................................... 471 19.9 Concluding Remarks ............................................................................................................ 473 References ...................................................................................................................................... 473
inhabiting those regions. Thus, we have more in common than the differences in continents may seem to suggest. Nevertheless, it should be noted that there are unique or majorly cultivated crops to each continent, indicating that regional agriculture has its own importance. For example, rice is a crop of great socio-economic importance to South-East Asian countries, and can be rightly called the ‘food for life’ for billions who inhabit that part of the world.
