Concepts
Centers of Origin
Also Known As Vavilov centers
Citation Formats
General Reference
APA Style
BibTeX
The geographic regions where crops were first domesticated and where their wild relatives and greatest genetic diversity still live. Nikolai Vavilov proposed the idea in 1924 and kept refining the map all his life, counting three centers at first, then five, six, seven and eight as the evidence grew. The concept tells breeders where to look for the traits a crop has lost and tells conservation where losing a landscape means losing a crop's deep reserves.
Facts
Origin YearVavilov's first published scheme, 1924; he revised the number and boundaries of the centers repeatedly through 1940. Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
The centers are where crops' greatest genetic diversity lives, the deep reserve agrobiodiversity conservation protects
Wild relatives are concentrated in the same centers of origin where their domesticated descendants first arose.
Developed By
Proposed in Vavilov's 1924 scheme and refined by him through 1940
Sources
Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.
View At A Past Year
The atlas records no dated fact of its own for this entry, so there is no other year to choose.