Share
More than 60% of global agricultural production is concentrated in just nine crops. The list includes sugarcane, corn, rice, wheat, potatoes, soybeans, oil palm, sugar beet and cassava, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). This concentration helps explain why agrobiodiversity has gained prominence in the debate over the future of food production.
The concept encompasses the diversity of plants, animals, microorganisms and genetic resources associated with agriculture. In a scenario of climate change and new pressures on production systems, maintaining this variety expands the options for adapting production.
And this diversity is not limited to the number of species cultivated or raised. It is also found in the differences within a single species. Varieties of corn, beans or cassava, for example, may have distinct characteristics in terms of productivity, development cycle, nutritional composition or adaptation to environmental conditions.
Part of the diversity found in the field today also bears the mark of human action. According to the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa), agrobiodiversity is the result of thousands of years of interaction between humans and nature, as different populations cultivated, raised and selected plants and animals.
The same applies to animal production, with different breeds and genetic characteristics. There is also a less visible diversity that is essential to the functioning of production systems: soil organisms, pollinators and species involved in nutrient cycling and the natural control of pests.
This diversity is also exposed to the advance of climate change, according to projections by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) summarized in the image below.
Why does this variety matter?
The importance of this repertoire becomes clear when production conditions change. A variety adapted to a particular rainfall pattern, temperature or soil type may not perform as well in another environment. Likewise, a genetic trait that is of little relevance today may become valuable in the face of drought, extreme temperatures or the emergence of new pests and diseases.
Maintaining a diverse genetic base therefore means preserving alternatives and reducing risks. The concern is that part of this heritage is declining, especially because local varieties are being replaced by modern ones, as the FAO points out. The organization’s third report on plant genetic resources for food and agriculture, published in 2025 based on information from 128 countries and 17 international and regional research centers, found that 42% of the diversity of the plant varieties analyzed was no longer present in at least one of the areas where it had been recorded 10 to 15 years earlier.
At the same time, some of this diversity is maintained outside its environment of origin. As of December 2022, more than 5.9 million accessions of plant genetic resources were being conserved in gene banks (where the genetic material of a species is stored and can be passed on between generations) in 116 countries and 17 international and regional centers, according to the FAO.
These collections preserve seeds and other genetic materials that can be used in research and breeding programs. Thus, a trait that does not attract interest today, for example, may become important in the face of a new environmental condition or production challenge.
Conservation, however, also takes place in the field itself. When varieties and breeds continue to be cultivated and raised by producers, they remain integrated into the production systems and environmental conditions of each region.
The relationship between diversity and production takes on a particular dimension in Brazil. In a country of continental proportions, soil conditions, temperature, rainfall patterns, water availability and vegetation vary significantly from one region to another.
This is because the same production solution does not necessarily perform in the same way in every environment. It is precisely through the combination of genetic resources, local characteristics and management practices that agrobiodiversity can expand the range of options available for production. This does not simply mean increasing the number of species or varieties on a farm. The point is to recognize which resources are suited to the conditions of each territory and how they can contribute to the functioning and adaptive capacity of the production system.
This logic brings agrobiodiversity closer to another discussion on the sustainable production agenda: agroecology. While agrobiodiversity concerns the biological diversity associated with agriculture and food, agroecology applies ecological principles to the understanding and development of agricultural systems.
In practice, the two intersect when this diversity becomes part of production strategies. Different species and varieties, soil organisms, pollinators and natural enemies of pests can perform distinct functions within the system, from nutrient cycling to pollination and pest regulation.
Diversity as a resource for the future
The concentration of global production in a small number of crops does not diminish their importance. Rice, corn, wheat, soybeans and other commodities remain essential to global food supplies. The discussion of agrobiodiversity adds another question: what alternatives will be available if production conditions change?
This is where conservation and production meet again. Maintaining species, varieties, breeds and genetic resources means preserving traits that may prove useful in the face of new environmental and production challenges.
More than expanding what is produced today, therefore, agrobiodiversity helps keep open the range of possibilities for what can be produced tomorrow.
