I’m just putting it out there: do we in agrobiodiversity conservation/use need to worry about this more?
New NUS “entity” launched
Crops for the Future, a new international organisation dedicated to the promotion of neglected and underutilized species, was launched a few days ago.
Crops for the Future has evolved from a union of the International Centre for Underutilised Crops (ICUC) and the Global Facilitation Unit for Underutilized Species (GFU). It will be hosted in Malaysia by Bioversity International in a joint venture with the University of Nottingham, Malaysia Campus.
Best wishes to all concerned!
Cocoa from tree to cup
News from both ends of the cacao value chain today. At the upstream end, new molecular marker work on over a thousand genebank accessions reveals that the species is divided into no less than 10 genetic clusters, rather than the conventionally recognized two. These show a clear geographic pattern: they are strung out along an east-west axis in the Amazon, probably reflecting, according to the authors, the location of ancient ridges (“palaeoarches”), which were barriers to dispersal not only for Theobroma but also for various fish groups. Meanwhile, at the downstream end, there’s an account of a visit to a “chocoholic mecca” in Santa Fe.
LATER. And, for the trifecta, news from somewhere around the middle of the value chain.
LATER STILL. What comes after trifecta?
The farmers of the future
“America, we cannot turn back. Not with so much work to be done… Not with an economy to fix and cities to rebuild and farms to save.â€
Berry Go Round #11 is up
With lots of great stuff, from pretty much all over the Plant Kingdom. Enjoy!