Luigi Guarino

January 15, 2019January 15, 2019

Seed sector consolidation and innovation deconstructed

Long story short, I don’t think there is sufficient evidence so far to support the claim that increasing concentration in seed markets reduces innovation. I’m not saying it is impossible; just that the evidence so far does not show it…

Well, that’s a turn up for the books. Koen Deconinck’s OECD study explaining why the recent Civil Eats story making that claim may be wrong is just out, but that quote comes from a Twitter thread which starts with this

Our @OECDagriculture study on concentration in seed markets contradicts several of the points made in this @CivilEats article. I'd like to pick on one argument in particular – that mergers lead to less innovation. This has not been shown. 1/ https://t.co/jwb7j584AV

— Koen Deconinck (@DeconinckKoen) January 14, 2019

and that you can see conveniently unspooled here.

January 14, 2019

PAGXXVII in the air

The self-styled “Largest Ag-Genomics Meeting in the World” is on again. It’s not really my thing, but I don’t mind following the proceedings at a distance: the hashtag is #PAGXXVII. I particularly recommend Zoë Migicovsky’s live-tweeting, but there are others who are doing a fine job too.

Top #PAGXXVII Tweeters:
1 @pop_gen_JED 155
2 @zoemig 113
3 @JChrisPires 109
4 @Campbell_JD_PhD 68
5 @So_it_flows 49
6 @khanmather 48
7 @isugif 43
8 @mossMatters 42
9 @TroyNRowan 40
10 @JasonWilliamsNY 38

— Jared Decker (@pop_gen_JED) January 14, 2019

January 14, 2019January 12, 2019

Brainfood: Coca phylogeny, Potato taste & nutrition & resistance, CC & nutrition, Light & nutrition, Remote poverty, Spicy toms, Input subsidies, Broilerocene, European livestock then & now, Bean domestication, Peach domestication, Machine conservation, Habitat fragmentation, Conservation planning, Taxidermy, Wheat diversity, Livestock GS

Phylogenetic inference in section Archerythroxylum informs taxonomy, biogeography, and the domestication of coca (Erythroxylum species). Morphology is not enough.
Improving Flavor to Increase Consumption. Yield is not enough.
The Nutritional Contribution of Potato Varietal Diversity in Andean Food Systems: a Case Study. Yield is not enough.
Stacking three late blight resistance genes from wild species directly into African highland potato varieties confers complete field resistance to local blight races. One resistance gene is not enough.
Income growth and climate change effects on global nutrition security to mid-century. Calories will not be enough.
Urbanization and Child Nutritional Outcomes. Urbanization is enough.
Socioecologically informed use of remote sensing data to predict rural household poverty. Night light is not enough.
Capsaicinoids: Pungency beyond Capsicum. Peppers and tomatoes are not enough.
The impact of agricultural input subsidies on food and nutrition security: a systematic review. The data are not enough.
The broiler chicken as a signal of a human reconfigured biosphere. The broiler is enough.
Pre-Roman improvements to agricultural production: Evidence from livestock husbandry in late prehistoric Italy. The Romans were not enough.
Optimizing ex situ genetic resource collections for European livestock conservation. One genebank is not enough.
Does the Genomic Landscape of Species Divergence in Phaseolus Beans Coerce Parallel Signatures of Adaptation and Domestication? One genome is enough.
Genome re-sequencing reveals the evolutionary history of peach fruit edibility. Human selection was not enough.
Predicting plant conservation priorities on a global scale. This black box is enough.
Is habitat fragmentation bad for biodiversity? Small patches may be enough.
Synergies between the key biodiversity area and systematic conservation planning approaches. One conservation approach is not enough.
Capturing goats: documenting two hundred years of mitochondrial DNA diversity among goat populations from Britain and Ireland. Stuffed goats are enough.
Decline in climate resilience of European wheat. The current varieties are not enough.
Harnessing genomic information for livestock improvement. Genomic selection was going to be enough.

January 12, 2019January 14, 2019

Genebanks on social media

Are you interested in genebanks? In particular, the international genebanks of CGIAR? If so, you probably already know about their webpage. And you’ve no doubt signed up for their newsletter. But do you know about their Facebook group? “Like” it, you’ll like it.

January 12, 2019January 17, 2019

Nibbles: Magic beans et al., Avocado etymology, Honey please, Pig maps, Banana pics, Commons, Diet footprint, Sparing/sharing, Old caviar, Old whiskey, Potato wild relatives, Cassava breeding, Apple double, Ancient potatoes, Ancient grapes, African cooking, Native American craft beer, Agricultural heritage site, Aboriginal biodiversity, Svalbard 10th, Alpaca calendar.

Telegraph op-ed on agricultural biodiversity. Yeah, you read that right.
No, avocado does not come from the Aztec’s word for testicles. It’s the other way around.
Why honey is a keeper.
Mapping the hell out of pigs.
Photo database to help tell bananas apart.
Deconstructing the Tragedy of the Commons.
The C footprint of your diet.
“We can spare 50 percent and share the rest.”
Cave man caviar.
Whiskey with that?
Potato wild relatives and food security.
Cassava and food security. No word on its wild relatives.
Wales finds a new apple.
Maybe someone will take a cool picture of it.
Potatoes were always for the masses. Ok, but not sure anyone ever thought otherwise, though.
Grapes, on the other hand…
The cuisines of Africa get their shot.
Some of those will go well with craft beer.
Agricultural heritage list gets saffron and argan. Bet they go together well.
Maybe wild kiang tea will get there too someday.
Or the Aboriginal Australians. Not really agriculturalists, but still.
Is this alpaca exploitation? Maybe you can take the promotion of agricultural biodiversity too far.
Will the Svalbard Global Seed Vault qualify one day? Ten years on, still going strong. And return to top.