Peruvian peasants, Italian consumers and California peach farmers are all helping to promote crop diversity in unexpected ways, says a UC Davis anthropologist who studies agriculture.

In his new book, "Farmers' Bounty: Locating Crop Diversity in the Contemporary World," Stephen Brush investigates areas that are bucking the trend toward fewer agricultural varieties in modern agriculture.

He concludes that, worldwide, a variety of farming and consumer practices are maintaining much more diverse foods than has been assumed.

In Italy's case, an ancient wheat grain, farro, which takes more time and effort to hull than more modern versions, has experienced a renaissance after surviving in isolated pockets of the country, Brush says.

"Foods prepared with farro have become fashionable because the grain is organically produced and is associated with a traditional Mediterranean diet," Brush says in his book. Moreover, the grain has been promoted as part of local identity and its regional cuisine.

In California, peach varieties have increased over the past century so that now more than 200 varieties are grown commercially.

Brush says farmers are driven to diversify their crops by lengthening the harvest period to take advantage of "dramatically higher prices at the beginning and end of the harvest season" and to avoid bottlenecks in labor and equipment.

Native farmers throughout the world are also credited with preserving crop diversity, despite more efficient hybrids since the Green Revolution of the 1960s. Brush, who has studied the practices of farmers in Peru, Mexico and Turkey, says while the agriculturalists have been open to the new varieties of potatoes, corn and wheat, they continue to conserve their traditional varieties as a back-up measure.