Description
Tom Gradziel, University Of California, Davis. Presented at the 2013 conference
Almonds have been an important crop since the rise of the first civilizations in the Fertile Crescent and the development of the ancient trade routes connecting them. Because of almond’s high food value, easy transportability and uncomplicated propagation, the crop was quickly disseminated to regions with the required Mediterranean climate, from Morocco, Spain and Portugal in the West to India and China in the East. Local cultivation and selection over the ensuing centuries have led to the development of numerous local varieties which are traditionally planted in marginal, low-input, low-return farming systems.
