Crop wild relatives are potential sources of desirable traits for breeding well-adapted crop varieties while wild food plants are important components of the diets of many people worldwide. These guidelines provide recommendations for implementing a national conservation plan, ranging from inventorying the target species to conducting threat assessments. They will be useful for development practitioners, researchers, students and policy-makers

The State of the World's Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture presents the first global assessment of biodiversity for food and agriculture worldwide. Biodiversity for food and agriculture is the diversity of plants, animals and micro-organisms at genetic, species and ecosystem levels, present in and around crop, livestock, forest and aquatic production systems. It is essential to the structure, functions and processes of these systems, to livelihoods and food security, and to the supply of a wide range of ecosystem services. It has been managed or influenced by farmers, livestock keepers, forest dwellers, fish farmers and fisherfolk for hundreds of generations. Prepared through a participatory, country-driven process, the report draws on information from 91 country reports to provide a description of the roles and importance of biodiversity for food and agriculture, the drivers of change affecting it and its current status and trends. It describes the state of efforts to promote the sustainable use and conservation of biodiversity for food and agriculture, including through the development of supporting policies, legal frameworks, institutions and capacities. It concludes with a discussion of needs and challenges in the future management of biodiversity for food and agriculture. The report complements other global assessments prepared under the auspices of the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, which have focused on the state of genetic resources within particular sectors of food and agriculture.

The report summarizes results from a cooperation among all the Nordic countries during the period 2015 – 2019 (two projects). The work has focused on the conservation of Crop Wild Relatives (CWR), i.e. wild plant species closely related to crops. They are of special importance to humanity since traits of potential value for food security and climate change adaptation can be transferred from CWR into crops. The projects represent the first joint action on the Nordic level regarding in situ conservation of CWR. Substantial progress has been made regarding CWR conservation planning, including development of a Nordic CWR checklist and identification of suitable sites for CWR conservation. A set of recommended future actions was developed, with the most important one being initiation of active in situ conservation of CWR in all Nordic countries.

The papers included in this Special Issue address a variety of important aspects of plant biodiversity and genetic resources, including definitions, descriptions, and illustrations of different components and their value for food and nutrition security, breeding, and environmental services. Furthermore, comprehensive information is provided regarding conservation approaches and techniques for plant genetic resources, policy aspects, and results of biological, genetic, morphological, economic, social, and breeding-related research activities. The complexity and vulnerability of (plant) biodiversity and its inherent genetic resources, as an integral part of the contextual ecosystem and the human web of life, are clearly demonstrated in this Special Issue, and for several encountered problems and constraints, possible approaches or solutions are presented to overcome these.

The edited volume brings out a comprehensive collection of information relevant to wild food plants, their importance for global sustainable food security, future-readiness, and resilient agriculture. The book's primary focus is to cover topics on the diversity of wild food plants across the globe, their nutraceutical importance, production-consumption trends, integration into the current food menu, and marketing and livelihood opportunities to the indigenous people. Sustainable development goals 1, 2, and 3 are significant for a poverty-free, hunger-free world and ensure good health and wellbeing of the people, respectively. The three goals are important and interlinked as achieving zero poverty will help reduce hunger among the people. Availability of nutritional and balanced food ensures good health. Wild food plants are an essential part of a nourishing and healthy diet for indigenous communities. They are globally collected from natural habitats or cultivated at more minor scales. Although consumed locally, they are an essential part of the diets of tribal and indigenous communities worldwide and hold immense potential to alleviate global hunger. Considering their importance for global sustainable food security, it is essential to clearly understand the future role of wild food plants for future readiness and resilient agriculture. Therefore, this book provides a piece of important information on these aspects. The book is a valuable resource for the audience ranging from undergraduate science students to the NGOs and institutions involved in poverty alleviation programs, policymakers, dieticians, horticulturists, plant breeders, farmers, health experts, and food enthusiasts.

Plant Perspectives to Global Climate Changes: Developing Climate-Resilient Plants reviews and integrates currently available information on the impact of the environment on functional and adaptive features of plants from the molecular, biochemical and physiological perspectives to the whole plant level. The book also provides a direction towards implementation of programs and practices that will enable sustainable production of crops resilient to climatic alterations. This book will be beneficial to academics and researchers working on stress physiology, stress proteins, genomics, proteomics, genetic engineering, and other fields of plant physiology. Advancing ecophysiological understanding and approaches to enhance plant responses to new environmental conditions is critical to developing meaningful high-throughput phenotyping tools and maintaining humankind's supply of goods and services as global climate change intensifies. - Illustrates the central role for plant ecophysiology in applying basic research to address current and future challenges for humans - Brings together global leaders working in the area of plant-environment interactions and shares research findings - Presents current scenarios and future plans of action for the management of stresses through various approaches

This book covers a range of important topics on crop and animal genetics, breeding and genomics, as well as biodiversity and genetic resources conservation and utilization reflecting three thematic sections of working groups of the Biotechnology Society of Nigeria. The topics range from agricultural biotechnology, including genetically modified organisms and gene-editing for agronomically important traits in tropical crops, to Nigeria’s mega biodiversity and genetic resources conservation. This book will engender a deeper understanding of underpinning mechanisms, technologies, processes and science–policy nexus that has placed Nigeria as a leader in biotechnology in Africa. The book will be useful reference material for scientists and researchers working in the fields of food and agricultural biotechnology, bioinformatics, plant and animal genetics, breeding and genomics, genetic resources conservation and enhancement. Emphasizes recent advances in biotechnologies that could ameliorate the high-level global food and nutrition insecurity through plant and animal genetics, breeding, as well as genomics Provides detailed information towards harnessing indigenous bioresources for food and nutrition security and climate change adaptation Introduces new frontiers in the area of genomics, most especially their relevant applications in crop and animal breeding Reviews biotechniques that could enhance plant genetic resources conservation and utilization Discusses current biotechnological approaches to exploit genetic resources including the development of synthetic hexaploid wheat (SHW) for crop adaptation to the increasingly changing global climate