Origin of Crops

Authors and Publication Information

• Authors: Colin K. Khoury, Harold A. Achicanoy, Carlos Navarro-Racines, Steven Sotelo, Andy Jarvis
• Institution: International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)
• Publication Date: May 2016
• License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
• Associated Publication: Khoury et al., 2016, Origins of food crops connect countries worldwide, Proc. R. Soc. B 283: 20160792

Circular Plots

• Purpose: Illustrate the connection between regions of crop diversity and their current significance in food supply and agricultural production.
• Parameters Measured:
  • Regional food supplies: calories, protein, fat, and food weight
  • Agricultural production: total production quantity, harvested area, and gross production value
• Visual Representation:
  • Each region has a color coding for native crops.
  • Colors connect with other regions based on the crops' importance in those regions.
  • Magnitude of contribution indicated by the width of connecting lines.
  • Line widths are nonlinearly adapted, representing contribution size at start and end points.
• Data Sources: Derived from national food supply and production data provided by FAO.
• Methodology: Based on "The Global Flow of People" by Nikola Sander et al.

Data Analysis

• Data Set: Full set of food crop commodities from FAO data.
• Food Supply Metrics: Calories, protein, fat, food weight per capita per day.
• Production Systems Metrics: Production quantity, harvested area, gross production value.
• Inclusions: Includes crops indirectly contributing to human food supplies via livestock (e.g., alfalfa).
• Exclusions: Non-food crops and animal products not included.
• Aggregation: Plant commodities aggregated into single commodities, e.g., sesame seed oil and sesame seed.
• Data Period: 2009-2011
• Countries Analyzed: 177 countries for food supplies; 141 countries for production value.

Regional Classifications

• Regions outlined based on national borders for better data management.
• Modifications included:
  • Splitting Europe into north and south regions.
  • Separating Australia/New Zealand from tropical Pacific islands.
  • Dividing South America into Andean, temperate, and tropical regions.
• Total of 23 regions identified worldwide.
• Countries spanning multiple regions included in all relevant categories.

Primary Regions of Diversity

• Definition: Regions where crops were initially domesticated and evolved
• Assignment: Based on published studies about crop diversity and wild plant species richness.
• Inclusion: Crops with diverse regions listed in all applicable regions, e.g., wheat in Central Asia and West Asia.
• Data Representation: Circular plots display data at regional level.
• Commodities: 42 out of 53 in food supply data, and 116 out of 132 in production data, were linked to primary regions of diversity.

References

• FAO reports, studies by Harlan JR, Zhukovsky PM, and others provide foundational data and methodologies.
• Numerous sources contribute to understanding crop diversity, origins, and distribution.

These notes capture the essence of the research conducted on the origin and diversity of crops, detailing the interconnectedness of global food supplies and regional agricultural production.