The online resource provides an atlas of wild crop relatives in Guatemala, a hotspot of biological diversity for common food crops.
The conservation of crop wild relatives is important due to their role in breeding improved crop varieties that are hardier, more productive, more nutritious, more disease and drought resistant, and better adapted to climate change stresses.
January 2011: Bioversity International has developed and released a new online resource to facilitate the conservation and use of wild plant species in Guatemala that are related to cultivated crops. The conservation of crop wild relatives is important due to their role in breeding improved crop varieties that are hardier, more productive, more nutritious, more disease and drought resistant, and better adapted to climate change stresses.
Bioversity notes that Guatemala is a hotspot of biological diversity for common food crops. The atlas (Atlas Guatemalteco de Parientes Silvestres de las Plantas Cultivadas) is a result of collaboration between the US Department of Agriculture, Bioversity International, the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and the University of San Carlos in Guatemala. Bioversity International and CIAT are members of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). [Publication: Atlas of Guatemalan Crop Wild Relatives] [Bioversity Press Release]