Brainfood: Rye genus, Purple carrots, Breed conservation contracts, Livestock breeding, USDA sweetpotatoes, Apple breeding, Olive breeding, Landrace nutrition, Trade and SDG 2.5, Medicinal legumes, Tea in China, Non-rhizobia, Fungal cryo, Barcoding NUS

Phylogeny and genetic structure in the genus Secale. The perennial species is different from the annuals, which are divided into an Asian and a non-Asia group and show all kinds of introgression.
Consumers’ acceptance of a local landrace: the case of purple carrots. Sure, if produced locally.
Saving the breeds: German Farmers’ preferences for Endangered Dairy Breed conservation programs. Sure, if they get paid.
Analysing innovations among cattle smallholders to evaluate the adequacy of breeding programs. Intensification will need more than selection within the local breed. But it’s a start.
Genetic diversity and population structure of the USDA sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas) germplasm collection using GBSpoly. 4 clusters: Central American, North American, South American, and others.
Updated review of potential medicinal genetic resources in the USDA, ARS, PGRCU industrial and legume crop germplasm collections. 22 species have potential.
Apple (Malus spp.) Breeding: Present and Future. It’s bright, apparently.
Strategies for Olive (Olea europaea L.) Breeding: Cultivated Genetic Resources and Crossbreeding. There’s an International Olive Council, and it has a Network of Germplasm Banks.
Genetic flow among olive populations within the Mediterranean basin. Separate Syrian and Algerian genepools.
Traditional farmers’ varieties: a valuable source of genetic variability for biofortification programs. Back to the future.
SDG 2.5: How Policies Affecting Trade and Markets Can Help Maintain Genetic Diversity. It’s possible, but not automatic.
Concept and protection of traditional knowledges in agricultural heritage system: a case study of Pu’er Traditional Tea Agrosystem. Based on 269 pieces of traditional knowledge, and in trouble.
Mining alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) nodules for salinity tolerant non-rhizobial bacteria to improve growth of alfalfa under salinity stress. They work even on their own.
Frozen fungi: cryogenic storage is an effective method to store Fusarium cultures for the long‐term. I guess will also work on the above?
DNA barcoding to promote social awareness and identity of neglected, underutilized plant species having valuable nutritional properties. Familiarity breeds contentment.

Fresh Nibbles

A paean to diverse diets is just what we all need.
And another one, from the MIT Technology Review of all places.
Menawhile, there’s only one reference to dietary diversity in the World Bank’s investment framework for nutrition.
Maybe you have to quantify that diversity before you can save it? Now where have I heard that before?
Meanwhile, Europe reports on biodiversity-friendly farming practices. Does that include the biodiversity of the actual crops? Perhaps surprisingly, yes!
You want biodiversity-friendly farming practices? Talk to Indigenous people. The Committee on World Food Security (CFS) has launched an e-consultation on “Preserving, strengthening and promoting Indigenous Peoples’ food and knowledge systems and traditional practices for sustainable food systems.”
There’s diversity in asparagus too.
Genebanks can help with those biodiversity-friendly practices, diverse diets and rops and Indigenous practices.
Even big international genebanks.
Even the Svalbard Global Seed Vault.
But some are in trouble.
Though others are coming back.

Published on November 7, 2024

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