Surprising, though in a good way, to see a Government of India press release listing newly-released flood and drought resistant varieties of a number of staple and cash crops. What I’d like to know is how many of them owe their existence to material that breeders sourced from genebanks, either India’s own national system or the international genebanks of CGIAR. I see the famous flood-resistant Swarna Sub-1 rice is there, which was developed at IRRI. Maybe there are others.
ICRAF in forage shrub germplasm giveaway
I liked this idea from the World Agroforestry Centre’s Facebook page:
World Agroforestry Centre through its Rural Advisory Services (RAS) unit is doing research on innovative ways of reaching farmers. We have partnered with the Mediae Company to feature 4 episodes on fodder shrubs on the Shamba Shape UP (SSU) program that airs on Citizen TV every Saturday and Sunday at 1.30pm. In addition we are holding a Facebook competition on the SSU Facebook page. The competition is aimed at creating awareness on the use of fodder shrubs among viewers and followers of the page. Answer two questions and get a chance to win 1 ICRAF T-shirt, 1 ICRAF cap/hat, 100g packet of Calliandra seeds and 1 brochure on how to plant fodder shrubs for more milk and cash.
That’s one way of getting germplasm out the genebank door! But I think it shouldn’t be just Calliandra. Let’s get those farmers playing around with lots of different species. And what, incidentally, is second prize?
Nibbles: Barley domestication, Apple pie, Mexican food & drink, CABI, Old seeds, IT
- Secret of barley brittle rachis revealed. In other news, there’s a Centre of Excellence in Plant Cell Walls.
- Bramley apple pie filling protected. But from who?
- Participatively bred Oaxacan maize finds a market niche.
- Have some tequila with that participatively bred Oaxacan maize.
- “We can call a government and tell them our data is telling us that a pest is on the way.”
- The coolness of seeds.
- Yeah but “[g]ood seed in the wrong place is no longer good seed.”
Mapping responsible soy irresponsibly
Good thinking by the Round Table on Responsible Soy (RTRS) to map where it is most — and least — environmentally responsible to extend soy cultivation in South America.
“An interesting exercise, isn’t it?” they ask. No doubt it was meant rhetorically, but I’ll answer anyway: definitely, you bet! But how much more interesting if there had been a way of adding your own data to theirs. I’d really like to know, for example, about any crop wild relatives found in those light green areas in particular: “Areas where existing legislation is adequate to control responsible expansion (usually areas with importance for agriculture and lower conservation importance).” I know where to get the CWR data. 1 But how do I mash them up with this?
Nibbles: Sustainable database, Strawberry breeding, Breeding rice, Nutrition champion, Camel milk, Mike Jackson, Feed the Future, Quinoa prices, Small is beautiful
- A database of how you do sustainable intensification.
- Building a better strawberry.
- New lab helps Bangladesh with high-zinc rice.
- Maybe those guys are you nutrition champions.
- They’re right, camel milk is good, and good for you.
- Useful list of Mike Jackson’s publications.
- Pres. Obama learns about maize in Ethiopia.
- Increased quinoa supply leads to lower prices shock.
- Silly season roundup: tiny watermelons (no, not really), tiny pineapples.