The Continuing Process of Crop Domestication: Consequences for Genetic Conservation and Climate Change Mitigation

Crop domestication is generally a selection process for adaptation to selection by farmers and consumers. It was one of the key elements of the Neolithic Revolution(s), which took place some 10,000 years ago and led to the advent of civilizations on different continents. Three groups of factors drive domestication and subsequent evolutionary steps among crops: intrinsic biological processes, environmental factors, and - unique to crop evolution - human socio-economic and cultural factors. Crop evolution continues to shape genetic diversity today and is a key to adaptation of crops to global climate change.

Speaker: Paul Gepts, UC Davis