Cultivating Cultures

It's been estimated that humans have cultivated more than 6000 plant species. Today, however, only three, rice, wheat and corn, provide nearly 50% of human calories. Such monocultures are, however, highly vulnerable, especially at a time when world temperatures are getting hotter. Some authorities advocate other drought-resistant and highly nutritious crops for consideration (reconsideration?) (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/aug/20/ancient-crops-climate-crisis-amaranth-fonio-cowpeas-taro-kernza). Likely candidates for 'new' widely-planted cereal crops include Amaranth; Fonio; Cowpeas; Taro and Kernza. The first four have been grown in particular areas of the world, whereas Kernza is a new crop, being developed from Intermediate wheatgrass. All, are drought-resistant. In some cases (e.g. Amaranth), the entire plant can be eaten. All these potential new crops, are excellent sources of protein. The Utopian Seed Project is trying to popularise them with groups of farmers. Agriculture is clearly going to have to make major adaptations to deal with climate change. This will especially be the case, if the human population continues to grow and the area available to grow crops declines.