Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog
Agrobiodiversity is crops, livestock, foodways, microbes, pollinators, wild relatives …
Robert takes a certain delight in adding his voice to the chorus questioning the Southern Leaf Blight metanarrative:
Isn’t it remarkable that this is the only (well-known?) incident of this nature in recent history? And that it only was an incident that cannot even be detected on the yield charts? Are the levels of diversity that we are maintaining in the fields perhaps sufficient?
What’s next for the chopping block? Potato blight and the Irish famine?
You know, I think communicating about agrobiodiversity is really important. That’s why I contribute to this blog. Among various other things. But when I see the collective communication efforts of the agricultural biodiversity community culminate in the statement, made apparently in all seriousness, that “One crop seed becomes extinct every single day,” I do wonder whether the game is worth the candle. 1
LATER: Ok, maybe I was too sweeping in my vilification. Let me clarify. I don’t mind an editor crafting an attention-grabbing title for an article aimed at a popular audience. I can perhaps even live with a broad, “not even wrong” generalization about genetic erosion in such a title, if explained further in the text. No, what I really object to is the misuse of the word “seed” for “variety” in this particular context. Because it is unforgivably confusing, and simply not necessary. A seed, as the word is commonly understood, is just not something that goes extinct.
Oh, golly, it seems the question I asked in a post a few months back entitled “Is modern plant breeding bad for your health?” may be about to receive an answer…