Author: Luigi Guarino

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Amazonian myth-busting

You may remember a piece in SciDev a couple of years back which justly celebrated EMBRAPA’s genebank. There was an brief, intriguing statement towards the end:

This has been done by several indigenous communities — such as the Krahô, Guarani and Indian tribes from the Xingu river basin in Brazil — that approached Embrapa asking for primitive plants seeds that no longer germinate. The species were important not only to their agricultural system but also to their cultural rituals.

I had heard of this “restoration,” of course: a great story, dutifully trotted out when it is necessary to give an example of direct use of genebank materials, one not involving breeders. But it emerged during the meeting I’m attending that the conventional narrative is not quite correct. It turns out that the seeds that were “returned” to the Krahô had actually not been collected from them, but from a neighbouring tribe, in Tocatins. Ok, it is still direct use of ex situ conserved material by indigenous communities, but somehow not as resonant as formerly, at least for me. I hate it when that happens.

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Organic agriculture key to climate change adaptation and mitigation

Ma. Estrella A. Penunia, Secretary General of the Asian Farmers’ Association for Sustainable Rural Development (AFA), at the Round Table Discussion “Research and Innovation for Smallholder Farmers in the Context of Climate Change,” organized by IFAD during the 32nd session of IFAD’s Governing Council, 18 February 2009:

In closing, we reiterate our belief that sustainable, organic, ecological friendly agriculture, which is owned, controlled and managed by small men and women farmers, and supported by government policies and programs, is a strategic agricultural measure to adapt and mitigate climate change, ensure food security, and reduce poverty among smallholder farmers. We ask for strong support to this kind of agriculture by putting money for research and development, for communication and information dissemination, for promotion and upscaling. We look forward to meaningful partnerships with all stakeholders — government, business, civil society, producer organizations to promote this kind of agriculture.

On the other hand….

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Critically endangered cassava wild relative delays rotting

Here’s something else I learned at this workshop I’m attending on the state of plant genetic resources conservation and use in Latin America:

Dramatically delayed PPD [postharvest physiological deterioration] was found in Manihot walkerae, a wild relative of cassava found in Mexico and USA (state of Texas) (Fregene and Mba 2004). An accession of M. walkerae (MWal 001) was crossed extensively to elite cassava varieties. A single successful genotype was found with delayed PPD. The storage roots of the hybrid remained intact a month after harvest. Backcrosses of this hybrid to elite progenitors of the CIAT cassava gene pools and selfed (S1) populations were made for genetic mapping of the delayed PPD traits.

This came up during a discussion of the importance of collecting and conserving crop wild relatives. I had no idea the Manihot genus went as far north as Texas. Walker’s manioc turns out to be extremely endangered:

Until recently, it was believed that this species was represented in the U. S. by a single plant in the wild, discovered in Hidalgo County in 1990. In 1995, Walker’s manioc was located in three different areas on the Lower Rio Grande National Wildlife Refuge in Starr and Hidalgo Counties.

It is known from only a couple of populations in Mexico. I don’t give much for its chances in the wild. But there is material in the San Antonio Botanical Garden. And some of its genes are now in some cultivated varieties.

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Making breeding illegal

“When the disease comes in here, it’s going to wipe you out and you’ll have nothing left.”

That’s Ching Yuan Hu, associate dean for the University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, talking about legislation that would outlaw genetic modification of taro in Hawaii. Not sure which disease he’s talking about. Maybe our Pacific readers will tell us. Or Danny. Taro Leaf Blight is already in Hawaii, but others aren’t, of course.

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Tropical fruit cocktail

They offered us ciruela fruits at coffee break this morning, here at the Centro de Formacion de la Cooperacion Española in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia. Deliciously tart, but I had no idea what it might be — botanically, I mean — which always annoys me. I asked around, and narrowed it down to a Spondias, probably Spondias mombin. Certainly looks like the photo here. The go-to source for information on tropical New World fruits is, of course, the database put together by my colleagues at Bioversity. In looking around for other photos, I came across a travel site called Dave’s Travel Corner which has a page on tropical fruits and a great photo gallery. Plus a whole bunch of links.