Luigi Guarino

July 24, 2022

Documenting agricultural biodiversity everywhere

Nice to see a couple of examples of agrobiodiversity catalogues, albeit of very different kinds, available online.

The Catàleg de varietats locals de Catalunya (from that autonomous community of Spain’s Department d’Acció Climàtita, Alimentació i Agenda Rural) can be searched online by either cultivated species (hint: “mongueta” is Phaseolus vulgaris) or the “entitat” that is managing the landrace.

On the other hand, the Field Guide to the Cultivated Plants of the Philippines (Volume 1: Commonly cultivated species) from the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) can be downloaded as a beautifully produced PDF.

And since I’m here, I might as well point to a nice infographic summarizing the cultivated Citrus family tree. I may have shared this (or something similar) before, but I’m hoping that if I keep doing so some of the details will eventually stick in my brain.

July 19, 2022July 19, 2022

Nibbles: Algal genebank, Baking, Distilling, Ft Collins genebank, Community genebanks, Trinidad genebank, Agriculture & climate change, Nigerian coconuts, Organic agriculture

Saving an algal germplasm collection in the US.
Saving ancient grains via baking in Israel and distilling in Minnesota.
Saving seeds (and more) in a famous genebank in Ft Collins, Colorado.
Saving seeds in community genebanks in Nepal.
Saving seeds for the community in Trinidad & Tobago.
Saving agriculture from climate change in Hainan. Someone tell India.
Saving the Nigerian coconut sector.
Saving organic agriculture from politicians.

July 18, 2022July 18, 2022

Brainfood: Organic tradeoffs, Yield gap, Genebank impact, Rice in Madagascar, Trees & diets, Trees & food system, Global tree diversity, Restoration & emissions

Biodiversity and yield trade‐offs for organic farming. Switch to organic agriculture if the surrounding land that will need to be converted to farming to make up for production shortfalls is less than 2.4 times more biodiverse than the farmed land. But that’s an average that will depend on the crop.
Global wheat production could benefit from closing the genetic yield gap. Customize improved wheat varieties to local conditions by using the diversity in genebanks. No word on whether that includes organic conditions.
The impact of the international rice genebank (IRG) on rice farming in Bangladesh. Someone mention genebanks? 1% increase in genebank contribution to new variety means 1% increase in yield. No word on what happens under organic conditions.
Constraints on Rice Cultivation in Eastern Madagascar: Which Factors Matter to Smallholders, and Which Influence Food Security? Does swidden cultivation count as organic?
What are the links between tree-based farming and dietary quality for rural households? A review of emerging evidence in low- and middle-income countries. It’s generally a good idea to keep trees around your farm. But how to make sure that it happens?
Transforming food systems with trees and forests. Here’s how: scale up tree food production, reorient research towards trees foods, repurposing production incentives towards tree foods, and integrate nutrition with conservation. Got it? No word on whether the whole thing needs to be organic though.
High exposure of global tree diversity to human pressure. But what about the diversity of trees on farms? Well I guess if we do the above properly it will be ok.
Carbon removals from nature restoration are no substitute for steep emission reductions. Trees are not enough.

July 14, 2022

Course: “Genomes, Genebanks, and Growers”

This series of three 1-credit courses provides a solid introduction to the conservation and use of plant genetic resources. The series is targeted to upper-level undergraduates, beginning graduate students, and professionals undertaking continuing education. The learning outcomes, course format, computer requirements, and list of topics for the three courses are listed below.

Interesting, no?

July 13, 2022July 13, 2022

A digital herbarium production line in action

Check out how the U.S. National Herbarium is digitizing its specimens. Wild.

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