ABSTRACT
Gene banks have become popular tools in the conservation of agrobiological diversity but they forget to conserve some really important things, such as memories and practical knowledge. Wendell Berry wrote: As the local community decays along with local economy, a vast amnesia settles over the countryside. As exposed and disregarded soil departs with the rain, so local knowledge and local memory move away to cities or are forgotten under the influence of homogenized sales talk, entertainment, and education. The loss of local memory and local knowledge that is, of local culture has been ignored, written off as one of the cheaper prices of progress, or made the business of folklorists. Crop wild relative's conservation has received less attention than either commercial varieties or landraces, even though they are likely to play a significant role in securing future food security. Monocultures are more vulnerable, relative to polycultures, to pest and disease infestation.
