Luigi Guarino – Page 1122 – Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog

February 8, 2008

More potato salad

Never rains but it pours, part 37. Local newspaper article on the US potato genebank.

February 8, 2008

More on Columbian Exchange

Columbus not responsible for lice.

February 7, 2008February 8, 2008

More hot cocoa

Never rains but it pours. Mars and Nestle jump on the ethical cacao bandwagon.

February 7, 2008

Iriomote cat threatened

Not that close a relative of the domesticated cat, but still interesting, and in trouble.

February 7, 2008

Micronutrients protect against malaria

Another reason to eat those orange bananas (and sweet potatoes).

1. A North Macedonian professor’s 15-year rescue mission for landraces and crops surviving only in remote villages. Why bother? Stay tuned…
2. Ancient grapevines in Tigray represent a unique genetic lineage with potential value for breeding varieties adapted to dryland conditions.
3. Hawai’i Public Radio checks in on Maui’s coconut genebank. Useful to breed varieties adapted to really wet conditions, presumably.
4. The Cayman Islands are also hoarding coconuts, along with lots of tasty fruits.
5. A USD 400,000 boost from Taiwan for the Eswatini national genebank. Indigenous vegetables get much-needed love.
6. A regional survey of 25 orphan crops across 13 Latin American countries finds quinoa and amaranth well-catalogued, but characterization budgets are the real bottleneck. Collecting and conserving in genebanks is great, but not enough.
7. South Korea puts 330,000 seed accessions under “double lock”, hedging against both climate change and war. Conserving in one place is not enough.
8. FAO warns that nearly a third of the world can’t afford the USD 4.28 a day that a healthy diet costs — nearly three billion people, and rising. That’s why we need al the above, I guess.
Published on July 28, 2026