Jeremy Cherfas

May 3, 2010May 3, 2010

Mango symposium

This just in, in response to Bhuwon’s wonderful report on the mother of all Dashehari mangoes.

National Seminar on Mango

Biodiversity For Livelihood, 25 to 28 June, 2005, Lucknow

Dear Sir / Madam,

I am pleased to inform you that the Central Institute for Subtropical Horticulture is organizing a four-day National Seminar “Mango Biodiversity For Livelihood” during June 25th and 28th 2010 at CISH, Rehmankhera, Lucknow. The Seminar is being organized jointly by ICAR, and Society for Advancement of Subtropical Horticulture, Lucknow under the auspicious of National Biodiversity Authority Chennai, Bioversity International, New Delhi, National Horticulture Board, Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers Rights and National Horticulture Mission. It gives me great pleasure to invite you and your colleagues to the Symposium and request you to contribute to the deliberations. I am sure with your contributions to the field of mango research and development you would be deeply interested in this Symposium.

Alas, we cannot be there. More details at the website.

May 2, 2010May 1, 2010

School gardens

[I]nstead of building up and knocking down an army of straw men from a distance, Luke Tsai actually visited the [Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School in Berkeley, California] garden to see how it works and talked to the teachers and principal about the Edible Schoolyard.

What a strange idea, to go and look at something you’re reporting on and see what the people involved make of it, rather than just using your own gut feelings. But Luke Tsai did just that before he wrote about The Edible Schoolyard. Let’s hope this kind of effort never catches on. The Ethicurean wrote about Tsai’s piece and gives lots of context and links.

May 2, 2010May 6, 2010

Let’s define success, shall we?

Professor Robert Paarlberg has a long article in Foreign Policy that takes a critical look at feeding the poor. There’s much in it I agree with, and probably more I disagree with. I do have one important question, which I’m loathe to see buried among the comments at Foreign Policy.

Paarlberg devotes some time to attacking the “myth” that the Green Revolution was a failure. “In Asia,” he writes “the Green Revolution was good for both agriculture and social justice.” So here’s my question:

Why are 44% of the children under 5 years old in India malnourished?

Answers in the comments, please.

May 2, 2010May 2, 2010

Nibbles: Law, Cuba, Trout

Two radio programmes to read and/or listen to:

GE alfalfa in the dock — literally.
And an interview with Humberto Rios, Goldman Prize winner (and musician who sings the praises of mango diversity!)

Nicola at Edible Geography does an amazing number on rainbow trout, and much else besides.

May 2, 2010May 2, 2010

Carnival of Evolution

There’s a new edition of the Carnival of Evolution up at Evolution: Education and Outreach, the “official blog” of the journal of that name, and it contains three items of direct interest to agrobiodiversity fans (four if you count our submission, but you’ve already read that, right?).

Christie Wilcox reminds us that domesticated animals have smaller brains, relative to their body size, than their wild counterparts. Are they actually not as intelligent though?
Sticking with domestication, Jason Goldman reckons dogs have evolved to take advantage of the existing mechanisms that bond parents to their children. I can vouch for that.
And the author of Byte Size Biology takes on the gene transfer that sees pea-aphids making for themselves the carotenoids that colour some morphs orange. That’s a first for animal synthesis of carotenoids, essential compounds for healthy human life. Where did the pea aphids get their genes? From a fungus, by means of horizontal gene transfer. which is interesting in itself and also suggests a much simpler and perhaps more acceptable alternative to making transgenic staple crops rich in carotenoids: let’s just stick the gene into people!