The biodiversity, which is vital for food and agriculture, is disappearing
by day, according to the first-ever report of the Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations (FAO) on the State of the World's
Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture. The report stresses that once
biodiversity is lost, all the species that support the world's food systems
and sustain the people who grow and/or provide our food, cannot be
recovered.

The report, prepared with the guidance of the Commission on Genetic
Resources for Food and Agriculture, is based on the data provided by 91
countries. It was reported that there is a decreasing plant diversity in
farmers' fields, an increasing number of livestock breeds at the risk of
extinction, and a rising proportion of overfished fish stocks. Of the ~6,000
plant species cultivated for food, only about 200 contribute significantly
to global food production, and only nine account for 66 percent of total
crop production.

With the alarming data presented, the report also highlights the role of the
general public in reducing the pressures on biodiversity for food and
agriculture.

[www.fao.org]