Nibbles: Banana leaf wilt, EIB, Wheat rust, NUS, Amazon conservation, Snakes & carob, Global farmers, Spud genes

One Reply to “Nibbles: Banana leaf wilt, EIB, Wheat rust, NUS, Amazon conservation, Snakes & carob, Global farmers, Spud genes”

  1. Nice to see the Ethiopian genebank linking to farmer seed-saving but, Oh dear, the tall stories of times-gone-by are still there.
    “Though we don’t have specific figures, the scientific consensus is that 75 percent of the world’s crop diversity was lost over the course of the 20th century,” says Pat Mooney. [The 75% loss myth]
    “The biggest problem was that these crops were engineered not to produce viable seeds, so seeds would have to be bought anew each year,” says Hobbelink. [the `Terminator’ seed myth]
    “In 1976, a partnership between Germany and the Ethiopian government led to the establishment of a plant genetic resources center—i.e. seed bank—and Worede was named the program’s director.” [Facts: former Managers of PGRC/E, now the Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute: 1) Dr. Tadesse Ebba: 1968-1971; 2) Dr. Melaku Werede: 1971-1985. Tadesse, a tef breeder, marvellous person, and Oromo nationalist, was on the wrong side of the communist government then running Ethiopia.] Note the dates are Ethiopian – about 7 years off `our’ dates.

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