Luigi Guarino

July 29, 2010July 28, 2010

Featured: Bitterness and toxicity in food

After a rich commentary on a recent post on how farmers detoxify cassava, Pablo seems to be about to throw up his hands in despair, but steps back from the brink:

I begin to think that ignoring examples such as these, with lessons and clear examples that are rigorously scientific and practical is not about lack of evidence or oversight, but a policy to eliminate smallholder agriculture and the knowledge it holds. This would remove any viable alternative to the agro-industrial hegemony over our food and our diverse agrarian landscapes. I hope my fears are misplaced.

July 29, 2010July 31, 2010

Can Science Feed the World?

That’s the question posed by the title of a big splash in Nature. The answer, in case you don’t want to work your way through the various contributions, as summarized in a handy pamphlet, is yes, by enabling sustainable intensification, although not on its own. So nothing wildly new there. Also not new is that once again agrobiodiversity gets the shaft. One of the articles does focus on plant breeding, but it doesn’t mention the need to ensure the long-term availability of its raw material — crop and livestock genetic diversity, including that in genebanks. There’s also a piece by Jeffrey Sachs and numerous co-authors on the need for better global monitoring of agriculture, which doesn’t mention the desirability of monitoring levels of agricultural biodiversity on-farm. Oh well.

July 28, 2010

Reviving the Plant Genetic Resources Newsletter

We have received almost thirty comments endorsing the idea of reviving the Plant Genetic Resources Newsletter. Now Robert Koebner, one of the people behind the initiative, replies. ¹

I appreciate all the supportive messages, thanks everyone. I wanted to respond to the issue raised by Hannah J and elaborated by Paul N. The situation with regards publication outlets for academic, fully peer-reviewed PGR papers is that there are currently 2 fully dedicated journals (GRACE and PGR:C&U), while a number of plant breeding type journals also publish PGR material. The gap is for the “grey” literature — a lot of this never gets disseminated, not because its quality is poor, but because it does not easily fit the format and requirements of a normal scientific paper. Our aim with PGRN is definitely not to compete with GRACE etc., so we have no intention of seeking an impact factor. We want to offer the community a means to communicate at a more practical, less academic level. We do not want PGRN to become a bin for rejected papers, and for this reason there will be a firm quality control imposed. I would expect the rejection rate to be well over 50%, going on our experience with PGR:C&U, where this rate is nearer to 75%. At the same time, we would want to be as responsive as possible to the readership; one way to do this (there may well be many others) is to offer the opportunity for opinion-based, rather than exclusively results-based contributions.

July 28, 2010July 28, 2010

Featured: CGIAR’s orphans

Glenn asks a good question:

Is anybody in charge of the CGIAR reform looking at this question of the mix of research between the supercrops — rice, maize and wheat — and the so-called “orphan crops”?

Which we have passed on.

July 28, 2010July 28, 2010

Nibbles: Malnutrition, Ethanol, Kenyan tea, Ethiopian coffee, Botanic garden trends, Emmer, Vietnam fish, Guerrilla gardening, Garlic speculation, Brazil and Africa, Cactus, African veggies, Ducks and rice, Salmon

Nepal’s malnutrition rate apparently the highest in world. But the Micronutrient Initiative is on it. But what about homegardens, I hear you ask. And rice biofortification?
The advice I’ve been waiting for all my life: better nutrition through alcohol.
The plight of Kenyan tea workers.
Harlem church helps Ethiopian coffee farmers.
Botanic gardens drop flowers, do food. About time too. And botanical art too.
Jeremy’s farro photos.
“Iconic” catfish in trouble due to Mekong dam. Everything is an icon these days. Something to do with post-modernism, I guess.
Seedbomb something today. You’ll feel better.
WTF is it with garlic in China?
EMBRAPA reaches out to Africa.
KARI scientists push Opuntia for livestock. Ok, but surely there are enough native desert plants in Kenya to be going on with? Well, maybe not.
Zimbabwe market turns to sun-dried vegetables. Wish I knew what umfushwa was, though.
The Rice-Ducks Integrated Farming System sounds like great fun.
Why the salmon thrives in Oregon: “Tribal people have practiced a natural, sustained-yield conservation since time immemorial and are taught to plan seven generations ahead.”