Author: Jeremy Cherfas

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ABD blogger scoops huge award

The Crop Science Society of America recently announced its annual awards, to be presented at the Society’s annual meetings in Pittsburgh on 3 November, next week. We couldn’t be happier about the Calvin Sperling Biodiversity Memorial Lectureship, which goes to our friend and sometime blogger here, Robert. J. Hijmans. As the announcement says,

“Robert Hijmans is an assistant professor in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy at the University of California-Davis. … His program focuses mainly on modeling of the spatial and temporal dynamics of natural and cultivated biodiversity, agricultural geography and development, and spatial informatics.”

His lecture promises to be fascinating. If you’re in Pittsburgh for the CSSA meetings, go. Will technology allow us to share it?

There are some other awards in there that recognize the importance of agricultural biodiversity.

  • José F. M. Valls picks up the Frank N. Meyer Medal for Plant Genetic Resources for his work on the collection, conservation, and characterization of forage grass and wild peanut germplasm.
  • Maarten Van Ginkel, of ICARDA in Syria, gets the International Service in Crop Science Award. He contributed to breeding more than 100 bread wheat varieties.
  • And, illustrating yet again the truth of Matthew 25:29, the CSSA Presidential Award goes to Gebisa Ejeta of Purdue University, winner of this year’s World Food Prize. Not that we begrudge him the honour for a second.

Congratulations to all the winners.

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Development Marketplace

The World Bank’s Development Marketplace opens its doors on Tuesday 10 November. The idea is “to identify 20 to 25 innovative, early-stage projects addressing climate adaptation” and support them with grants of up to USD 200,000.

You may remember that last year our friend Hannes Dempewolf was one of the winners. ((Hey, Hannes, how about a very informal progress report?)) Is there anything this year of interest to agricultural biodiversity? Hard to say, mostly because the list of 100 finalists is available only as a PDF and doesn’t give a whole heap of information, but on past form, there’s bound to be. The Development Marketplace blog may be the place to follow the action, and if you’re around the World Bank, and have registered at the Marketplace’s web site, why not visit and send us your predictions of likely winners?

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Featured: Breeding

Dave Wood says lets not rush into breeding for climate change:

There are three distinct existing resources we can tap.
The first is the ability of crops to thrive after long-distance introduction. …
The second resource is the really vast data base from up to 50 years of multi-locational trials carried out as a matter of course by CGIAR institutes. …
The third resource is climate-matching. …

You need to read his examples. And when you have, you may find you agree. Or not.

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Agricultural biodiversity at the Diversitas conference

Harry Biggs, of South African National Parks, was at the recent Diversitas conference in Cape Town, and summarized his impressions on the conference web site: What I learnt from the Diversitas conference.. The stuff we wanted to hear:

Achim Steiner (now Exec Director UNEP) spent his keynote talking about how development and conservation have to, and can, find constructive mutuality. He is concerned that much of the renewed development drive is actually re-initiating old formulae which are not sustainable. At the meeting there was considerable emphasis on appropriate agro-biodiversity and dove-tailing of needs. He also feels that as a community we still see climate change (whatever we think about it) as a hindrance or competitive force to our agenda, rather than as an opportunity.

Here’s Steiner’s speech. Was anyone else listening?