Brainfood: Cropland map, Wild spinach collecting, CC double, Cacao diversity, Oilpalm footprint, Algal genebanks, Potatoes & gas, S African livestock, Silk Road cereals, Pests & CC

Global synergy cropland map. Yes, another one. Acquisition and regeneration of Spinacia turkestanica Iljin and S. tetrandra Steven ex M. Bieb. to improve a spinach gene bank collection. CGN plugs some gaps. Recent responses to climate change reveal the drivers of species extinction and survival. Niche shifts more important than dispersal in avoiding extinction. Climate …

Brainfood: Rationalizing acquisition, Empowering women, Breadfruit domestication, Rice hybrid sterility, Long-distance crop dispersal, Diversification, African leafy greens, GIAH, Silkworm cryo, Bean in situ

Molecular markers as a tool for germplasm acquisition to enhance the genetic diversity of a Napier grass (Cenchrus purpureus syn. Pennisetum purpureum) collection. Win-win for the ILRI and Embrapa genebanks. Women’s empowerment in agriculture and agricultural productivity: Evidence from rural maize farmer households in western Kenya. 1% increase in women’s empowerment led to a 6-16% …

Nibbles: Milk-drinking, Diversity and stability, Indian sheep, Development of the African savannah, Teaching rice, Silk, Diverse diet, Huge phallic inflorescences

Der Spiegel does its usual impressive number, this time on the Völkerwanderung. Via. Diversity and stability in grasslands. Yes, there’s a connection. Sheep breeds in India deconstructed. The future of the Guinea savannah. Probably not that great. IRRI teaches Singaporean cityslickers to grow rice. Silk beginning to fade where it was born. The diverse benefits …

More African silk

A long profile in the Boston Globe of a woman called Catherine Craig. She did field work at Gombe National Park in Tanzania in the 1970s, then became an expert on spider silk, before returning to Gombe a few years ago. The destruction she saw appalled her. So she did something: In 2003, Craig founded …

Brainfood: Silkworm, Donkey, Cat, Chicken, Neolithic, Shamans, Locusts

High-resolution silkworm pan-genome provides genetic insights into artificial selection and ecological adaptation. The silkworm was domesticated 5000 years ago in the middle Yellow River (along with millets?), but was improved independently and in different directions in China and Japan. The genomic history and global expansion of domestic donkeys. The donkey was domesticated in the Horn …