Luigi Guarino

June 2, 2015

Cary Fowler to advise USAID

Congratulations to Cary Fowler for his nomination by President Obama to the Board for International Food and Agricultural Development.

The Board for International Food and Agricultural Development (BIFAD) advises USAID on agriculture and higher education issues pertinent to food insecurity in developing countries. The President appoints members, who primarily represent the academic community.

Making the announcement of this and a number of other appointments to key administration posts, President Obama said:

These individuals have demonstrated knowledge and dedication throughout their careers. I am grateful they have chosen to take on these important roles, and I look forward to working with them.

June 2, 2015June 1, 2015

Nibbles: Bitter tea, Agroecology, Forest harvest double, Cannabis research, Agave farming, Bible food, Perennials, Wheat composition

Hard times for tea in Kenya. Believe me, I know, the mother-in-law never stops going on about it.
Agroecology, HuffPost piece and video.
Lessons on sustainable forest food harvesting from India.
Fixing Prunus africana harvesting: saying it is easier than doing it. Should have asked the Indians.
Studying weed.
Young people don’t like tequila. Farming its raw material, that is. Should maybe switch to weed? No, wait…
Weird Biblical food.
Did we miss this thing on perennial cereals when it first came out?
Nutritional composition of wheat hasn’t changed in 150 years. Not sure if that good or bad. What will happen when it goes perennial?

June 1, 2015May 26, 2015

Brainfood: Indian germplasm, Fancy cores, African veggies, Aquaculture, Characterization, Nature and ag policies, European rewilding

Indian plant germplasm on the global platter: an analysis. There’s a lot of it out there. But there could be more. And the total number of accessions in Genesys is mis-quoted by an order of magnitude. The message obviously resonates back home, though.
Signal-processing tools for core-collection selection from genetic-resource collections. Fancy maths lets you combine data types to make better core collections.
Impact of nutritional perceptions of traditional African vegetables on farm household production decisions: A case study of smallholders in Tanzania. People grow them because they think they’re nutritious.
Can the Global Adoption of Genetically Improved Farmed Fish Increase Beyond 10%, and How? Through more public breeding, training and benefit-sharing. Well that sounds familiar.
Phenotypic or Molecular Diversity Screening for Conservation of Genetic Resources? An Example from a Genebank Collection of the Temperate Forage Grass Timothy. Both.
The alignment of agricultural and nature conservation policies in the European Union. It “remains a challenge.” Which means there isn’t any.
Mapping opportunities and challenges for rewilding in Europe. Yeah, but see above.

May 31, 2015May 30, 2015

Jeremy Cherfas to make rare public appearance

You anywhere around Trinity College Dublin next Friday? If so, will you be in need of soup and bread? If so, would you mind very much listening to Jeremy while you eat? Ok, then, read this.

May 30, 2015June 1, 2015

Nibbles: Seeds, IPES report, Old wheat & bread, Twiga, Coca eradication, Double cheese, Breeding apples, Rose collection, Old tea, Insect as food, Fishing industry, UNFCCC negotiations, Famine book, Comms toolkit

Seeds scoped in the Pacific. I doubt the region will feature much in the Access to Seeds Index. Not unless it features community seed production groups like Atauro in East Timor.
Wanna reform the food system? Here’s the theory.
And here’s the practice, at least for wheat (and bread). Though some would probably beg to differ.
Blowing up African retail, one banana at the time.
Biological control of coca. What could possibly go wrong.
The reason for the holes in swiss cheese? We finally have the data.
But personally I prefer halloumi.
There are patents. There is PVP. And there are trademarks. A podcast on apple breeding, if you can believe it.
A whole bunch of heirloom roses all in one place.
Museum boffins find stale tea, Brits go ape.
Go on, have an insect.
Or maybe a nice piece of fish. While you can.
Confused about the UNFCCC negotiations about agriculture? Farming First has you covered.
Famine is history. Discuss.
NSF toolkit for communicating science. Maybe I should have read this before Nibbling.