Data from: Origins of food crops connect countries worldwide

Research into the origins of food plants has led to the recognition that specific geographical regions around the world have been of particular importance to the development of agricultural crops. Yet the relative contributions of these different regions in the context of current food systems have not been quantified. Here we determine the origins (‘primary regions of diversity’) of the crops comprising the food supplies and agricultural production of countries worldwide. We estimate the degree to which countries use crops from regions of diversity other than their own (‘foreign crops’), and quantify changes in this usage over the past 50 years. Countries are highly interconnected with regard to primary regions of diversity of the crops they cultivate and/or consume. Foreign crops are extensively used in food supplies (68.7% of national food supplies as a global mean are derived from foreign crops) and production systems (69.3% of crops grown are foreign). Foreign crop usage has increased significantly over the past 50 years, including in countries with high indigenous crop diversity. The results provide a novel perspective on the ongoing globalization of food systems worldwide, and bolster evidence for the importance of international collaboration on genetic resource conservation and exchange.

学界针对食用植物起源的研究已证实，全球特定地理区域对农作物的培育演进具有不可替代的关键作用。然而，在当前粮食系统框架下，这些不同区域的相对贡献仍未得到量化分析。本研究明确了全球各国粮食供应与农业生产所涉及农作物的起源——即“核心多样性起源区（primary regions of diversity）”；本研究还估算了各国利用本国以外多样性起源区作物（即“外来作物（foreign crops）”）的程度，并量化了近50年来该利用模式的变化趋势。各国在其种植和/或消费的作物的核心多样性起源区方面，存在高度的关联性。外来作物在各国粮食供应（全球平均来看，68.7%的国家粮食供应源自外来作物）与农业生产系统（种植的作物中有69.3%为外来作物）中被广泛应用。近50年来，外来作物的利用比例显著上升，即使在本土作物多样性丰富的国家亦是如此。本研究结果为全球粮食系统持续推进的全球化进程提供了全新视角，同时也进一步佐证了国际合作在遗传资源保护与交流领域的重要性。