Turkey's Flora

Anatolia is one of the foremost world sources of plants which have been cultivated for food, and the wild ancestors of many plants which now provide staples for mankind still grow here.

According to the principal international organizations active in wildlife research and conservation, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (I-UCN), the International Plant Genetic Resource Institute (IPGRI) and the World Wildlife Fund; there are four gene centers in the world for cultivated plants used in agriculture. Two of these are in the American continent and two are in Asia. In America; Mexico is the gene center for maize and tomatoes and Peru is the gene center for potatoes and beans, while in Asia; China is
the gene center for rice and millet and the
region of southwest Asia covering most
of Turkey and parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria and
Azerbaijan for wheat and barley.The most
important of these strategic agricultural plants
is undoubtedly wheat, of which over thirty
wild species still grow in Turkey.

 

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