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NEW DELHI,INDIA, May 20, 2003: National and international debates on agriculture are increasingly talking of a new buzzword: agrobiodiversity (HPI’s translation: “the old way of doing things”). Diversity in agriculture can produce a variety of foods which are safe to eat and also provide fodder for farm animals. It is in contrast to the dominant viewpoint that you grow a single crop, sell the produce, and purchase your food from the market. This lengthy article relates the success of several farmers who are preserving biodiversity in India despite the struggle against State policies that aggressively promote a monoculture (single cropping) system. Diversified crops maintain soil fertility for crops are planted in such a way that if one crop draws upon soil nutrients, another crop puts it back into the soil. Diversity also means insurance against crop failure for if one crop fails there is another crop to fall back on. And diversity ensures food security — at any time of the year, some crop is ready for harvest; and lastly, diversity helps preserve locally adapted seeds not available in the market. India is classified among the 12 mega-diversity centers of the world, in relation to crops. As many as 167 species of crops have originated here and the genetic diversity within these species is astounding. For example, there are 50,000 varieties of rice and 1,000 varieties of mango. This diversity is the result of centuries of careful selection and crossbreeding by India’s farmers and herdsman.

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