The “forgotten” American grain, Amaranth, may even pre-date maize as an important Mesoamerican food crop. Likewise, it is very important to study, because it could fill in some of the gap that would be left if the US wheat crop suffered from a rust disease.
Thanks. I had the same thought the other day in a thread about sorghum bran (black and sumac). We obviously like wheat for our flours but a variety of grains should be better in a dietary sense and because different grains grow in different habitats. And because of problems like the rust disease you brought up.