Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog
Agrobiodiversity is crops, livestock, foodways, microbes, pollinators, wild relatives …
The latest issue of the African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development (Vol. 9 No. 2) is out.
Nutrition features prominently as a result of the Ugandan Nutrition Congress which was successfully held in mid-February 2009 and we shall continue to announce the upcoming International Conference on Nutrition to be held in Bangkok in October 2009 and which will give prominence to African issues
That extends to Editor-in-Chief Prof. Ruth Oniang’o’s editorial.
The Conservatory of Flowers in San Francisco, “North America’s oldest existing public conservatory,” has an exhibition on until November called “Edible Expeditions.”
It’s a chance to see food in the wild as visitors take a discovery journey of edible plants from around the world. Arranged in lush demonstration gardens, Edible Expeditions highlights the many delicious products that we enjoy from tropical countries like chocolate, vanilla, coffee, rice and spices galore. Interactive demonstrations help visitors understand how their food goes from vine to dine. And families will enjoy the many hands on Edibilicious activities that allow children to explore tropical roots, fruits, leaves and seeds with their senses.
Sounds great, but we’d like to hear about it firsthand. If anybody out there goes, let us know what you thought of it. Via.
Rhubarb is a pretty interesting crop, with its steppe origins and medicinal properties and colourful appearance. But not nearly as interesting as one of its wild relatives. Plants of the desert rhubarb (Rheum palaestinum) growing in the Negev Desert have just been shown to “typically harvests 4.2 litres of water each year, while the largest plant found harvested 43.8 litres.” That’s in an area which gets 75mm of rain a year. It’s all due to the its “specially designed leaves that channel rain water to its roots.” No word on its crossability with Rheum x hybridum (R. palmatum x rhaponticum) Murray, but I’m sure it will be tried. Drought-resistant rhubarb crumble, anyone?
The line that I’ve used as the title of this post comes from an article in the Lagos Daily Independent which describes the recent torching, by the said deputy governor, of a crop of “Indian hemp” in Osogbo, the capital of Osun State, Nigeria. While setting her fire she…
…lamented that valuable acres of land in the state were being used to cultivate indian hemp instead of staple food crops.
Indian hemp? As in Apocynum cannabinum? Why set fire to Apocynum cannabinum? Especially after getting it to grow in Nigeria! Well, needless to say, I had the wrong end of the stick.
Anyway, what struck me about the article, apart from the delicious line which graces this post as its title, and the confusion that can be caused by the use of common names, is the following:
The peasant farmer should take centre stage. Revitalized commodity boards should be aligned with improved seeds and guaranteed farm gate prices to increase production. The effect will be a great increase in the living standard of all those involved in agriculture. There will clearly be no space for fallow farm lands to be used for growing indian hemp. Since she seems to be peeved, someone should educate Erelu Obada on the fine point of Indira Gandhi’s green revolution. The people of Osun State will clearly be better off for it.
I just can’t imagine commodity boards (however revitalized), seeds (however improved) and farm gate prices (however guaranteed) ever convincing “enterprising miscreants,” in the words of the author, in Nigeria or any other country, to give up their bhang fields. Just like I can’t imagine Yemeni farmers ever giving up their qat fields, despite similar interventions. Legalize it!