Biodiversity centres

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Global centres of biodiversity

A majority of today's crop species originated in eight regions considered global regions of biodiversity. These regions and some of the crops that originated there are listed here. This list is very partial - practically every cereal, fruit, vegetable, spice, condiment, oilseed, tuber, natural dye, fibre crop, forage crop, timber tree, industrial crop, medicinal crop, aromatic crop and beverage crop is native to one or more of these regions. It is interesting to note that most of these regions fall in today's Third World - obviously, the business of prospering from diversity, genetic resources and natural resources has affected these regions negatively in the past centuries just as it is doing now.

Region	Native crops
Mexico and Central America	Cocoa, common bean, corn/maize, cotton, lima bean, tepary bean, tobacco, tomato
Andes	Corn/maize, common bean, potato, peanut, tomato
Asia Minor and Mediterranean	Alfalfa, barley, cabbage, carrot, garlic, grape, lentil, oats, onion, pea, pear, rye, wheat
Ethiopia	Banana, barley, coffee, cowpea, onion, pea, wheat
Central Asia	Apple, apricot, barley, carrot, cotton, grape, lentil, onion, pea, pear, wheat
India	Cotton, cucumber, chickpea, lemon, orange, pigeon pea, rice, sorghum, soyabean, sugarcane, various grams
Southeast Asia	Banana, coconut, orange, rice, sugarcane
China	Apricot, orange, rice, sugarcane, soyabean, tea