Improving self-defense in plants. Martial arts for vegetables

From the dawn of agriculture there has been an ever-intensifying human effo rt to improve yields by having crops with enhanced biological similarity (i .e., characteristics of product, maturation time. height, color, etc.). The ultimate stage is to plant a crop where all individuals behave in exactly the same way, being clones of each other. This very intensive approach lead s to loss of intrapopulation biodiversity and to unstable systems, prone to disastrous losses should anything go wrong. Biological evolutionary success is usually derived from high adaptability t o ever-changing external conditions. Highly specialized plants (such as cer tain orchids) or animals survive by correctly performing a high-wire act of enormous risk. External disbalances have catastrophic results on these spe cies. Nature excels and corrects imbalances increased biodiversity within n atural populations. Given this situation, we should study the defensive sys tems used by plants and improve on those natural systems.