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 |