by Luigi Guarino on July 30, 2014
There are pigs, sheep and goats here. Some are ancient varieties, more popular 1,400 years ago than they are today. Like a shaggy-haired pig described my guide, John Sadler, as “half a ton of very grumpy animal … only interested if you feed it, or if you fall in — in which case you are food.”
That’s from a podcast I follow, The World in Words, which is about languages, not agricultural biodiversity. This particular episode was part of a series about places which have been important in the evolution of the English language, and focuses on Jarrow in northern England, haunt of the Venerable Bede.
“He’s the first person to actually write down who it was that actually came to the British Isles,” says linguist David Crystal, co-author with Hilary Crystal of Wordsmiths and Warriors. “He talks about the Angles and the Saxons and the Jutes, and discusses the range of languages that were spoken around the country.”
The grumpy pig and other animals “are part of a re-creation of an Anglo-Saxon village, with timber-framed buildings and turf-covered sheds. The farm is called Gyrwe, Old English for Jarrow. It’s part of a museum called Bedesworld.”
Its website has a little bit on the livestock you can see there, but I couldn’t find anything on any crops that might be part of the experience, which is a pity. I hadn’t thought much about this before, but such open-air museums focusing on the history of farming could be useful ways of communicating the importance of conserving agricultural biodiversity, and indeed even doing some conservation. There are many of them, in the US, in Europe (see also) and elsewhere. And there are some journals that cater to them.
Does anyone out there know of examples of farming museums such as Bede’s World doing serious conservation of crop diversity?
by Luigi Guarino on July 29, 2014
We have finally received news of the Philippines national genebank. Teresita Borromeo, who has worked there for some years, sent us the following email:
Yes, after 8 years, we were again devastated by the typhoon. The storage room is fortunately safe but our regeneration areas were completely damaged as well as our field gene bank. There was not much flood water as in 2006 but the winds were strong which lasted around ten hours. We had electricity just last Friday afternoon, so our freezers were first powered by generator. This again highlights the need for safety duplication within and outside the country. UPLB is greatly damaged, many trees fell down.
Seconded.
by Luigi Guarino on July 28, 2014
- Genetic structure of the Greek olive germplasm revealed by RAPD, ISSR and SSR markers. Reflects usage.
- Genotyping of Vitis vinifera L. within the Slovak national collection of genetic resources. Unclear whether it reflects usage.
- Molecular confirmation of species status for the allopolyploid cotton species, Gossypium ekmanianum Wittmack. It has been hiding in collections as “wild” G. hirsutum, but it really isn’t.
- North American animal breeding and production: meeting the needs of a changing landscape. We’ll need a better fit of genotype to production environment, better meat quality, better animal health and decreased residual feed intake; climate change will make it more difficult, but it will still be possible, especially using new genomic tools.
- Urban agriculture: a global analysis of the space constraint to meet urban vegetable demand. We’re going to need bigger cities, to grow enough vegetables in them, to feed them. No, wait…
- Niche Markets for Agrobiodiversity Conservation: Preference and Scale Heterogeneity Effects on Nepalese Consumers’ WTP for Finger Millet Products. That’s Willingness to Pay. And there is a bit of the population with enough of it to suggest that a price premium could translate into more acreage. And maybe more public investment.
- Selection and Crossbreeding in Relation to Plumage Color Inheritance in Three Chinese Egg Type Duck Breeds (Anas platyrhynchos). Hybrids are better layers, but then you can lose the desired plumage. Here’s how to have your beautiful duck and eat it too.
- Micronutrient Density and Stability in West African Pearl Millet — Potential for Biofortification. There is some, but there would be more if some Indian material was used in breeding too.
- Genetic diversity in kiwifruit polyploid complexes: insights into cultivar evaluation, conservation, and utilization. Interploid crosses can increase genetic diversity. The red-fleshed cultivars are genetically distinct. Red? Really?
- Natural hybridization, introgression breeding, and cultivar improvement in the genus Actinidia. We should collect new material in natural hybrid zones.
by Luigi Guarino on July 26, 2014
A workshop on Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea L) was co-hosted by the Crop Research Institute of Ghana and the Crops for the Future Research Centre (CFFRC) last September in Accra. One of the recommendations was to re-establish an on-line forum for the crop. We’ve now heard from Sean Mayes of CFFRC that “(t)he first phase of this is now complete.”
The current material on the site is really illustrative and we would welcome contributions from far and wide. Please make sure that you own the copyright on anything you would like posted, but we would welcome anything from papers to Bambara groundnut researcher profiles, news, current research etc.
The aim of the site is to link together people working in similar areas so that the individual efforts on Bambara research can begin to add up to something greater. This will benefit everyone involved and help to provide hard scientific evidence of how Bambara can realistically contribute to food security and income generation. Integrating research from genomics through to socio-economic policy is a key aim for underutilised species which often suffer from a range of problems across the entire value chain, so we would welcome input and contribution from all disciplines.
The list of contacts we have is currently limited to those who have contacted us, so please feel free to forward the site address to colleagues and other you feel would be interested. If you would prefer to be removed from the list, please let Razlin know (Razlin (dot) Azman (at) cffresearch.org). If you could also send any contributions/questions/concerns to Razlin as she will be the main person responsible for updating and maintaining the site on a day-to-day basis.
Simply as a starting point, a number of international researchers have offered to act as a steering committee for the site to get things off the ground. However, we are hosting the site on behalf of the Bambara groundnut community, so would also welcome suggestions and offers to help develop the site as a focal point for Bambara groundnut research.
Feel free to use the comments here also to leave suggestions. We’ll make sure they reach their destination.
Incidentally, speaking of neglected crops, can’t resist posting this photo I took yesterday in a Nairobi supermarket.
