Archaeology

Nibbles: Apples, Aussie genebank, Ugandan coffee song, Biodiversity hotspots, CWR inventory, Ancient Amazon, Chestnut recovery, Mainstreaming nutrition

Yet another blog post about heirloom apples. Why not heirloom, I don’t know, grains?
Yet another genebank opens.
On the other hand, can never have too many agrobiodiversity songs.
Banks? someone mention banks? Biodiversity hotspots are like (some) banks. Too big to fail.
Even crop wild relative hotspots?
1491: Amazon.
1493: New England. Hope Charles Mann won’t mind me borrowing his tropes.
Interesting use of technology to deliver interesting presentation on mainstreaming of nutrition in agricultural development. Anyone know how it was done?

Enjoying a mango, lychee or cashew? Thank the Eocene-Oligocene glaciation.
A grand tasting of Korean kimchi, in New York next week. #wishiwerethere.
The “Methuselah date” continues to thrive. How soon before we have a comparative sequence? (We missed an earlier report.)
You know what else is thriving? The Crops For The Future Research Centre, that’s what.
The home state of US winemaking? You’ll never guess.
Fishing myths busted. No, not the one about giving someone a fish vs providing capacity building in a piscatorial framework. Carpe carpam!
Kew builds a pyramid! Of pumpkins, settle down.
A well-aged wine to go with those cucurbits? How about this 6000 year-old Greek number? I think you’ll be amused by its presumption.
Nice enough story of cassava improvement from CIAT, except that it is missing the beginning (the genebank?) and the end (blindness prevented).

Flower gardeners discover what their edibles colleagues have suffered under: new EU rules.
“Hard Times Followed Booms for Europe’s Ancient Farmers” Ya don’t say.
“Diversity in Forage Management.” Yes, even in the US.
Makanaka sticks it to the FAO’s State of Food Insecurity in the World 2013.

An ODAP detective story.
Ancient maize gets a map.
Diversity is the key to sustainable cacao.
New Bioversity DG answers the tough questions.
Be the first on your block with an unusual fruit tree.
How to grow awesome carrot seed.
The hard life of Nigerian wine tappers.
Bringing back buckwheat in Bhutan.
Annals of Botany to do halophytes.
Come down to earth with the realization that most people have never heard of cowpea and cassava. Would they have heard of black-eyed peas and tapioca, though?
Big report on urban malnutrition. Maybe cassava (see above) can help?
The last orange grove in the San Fernando Valley. No word on what the variety might be.
All about molasses.
Indian tree breeding institute, and accompanying genebank, get a write-up.
Yes, I know that I could have done a better job of pointing out the connections among some of these things, but it’s been a long week.

CIFOR scientist talks about the much-vaunted landscape approach.
The repeated evolution of lemony flavour.
Nice infographic of breadfruit diversity in the Pacific.
Better infographic of chili pepper diversity in Mexico. Both are on Facebook. Hope you guys can see them.
FAO’s Eve Crowley is didactic and inspirational by turns about women, co-operatives and rural development.
Hardin vs Ostrom. Walk-over.
How much does production have to increase, really? Lobell deals the cards.
What are the effects of input subsidies on maize prices in Malawi and Zambia? Small to none.
Plant database to charge for access? Never a good idea.
Ok, here’s a first, a beer I don’t altogether feel like tasting.
Last days of the soybean homecoming show in Hong Kong. Anybody out there seen it?
Video on the intricacies of Kew. Not as long as you’d think.
Weevils in sweet pea jar pinpoint season of Santorini eruption. Has anyone tried to recover DNA from the seeds?
Experts for ensuring quality fish seeds to enhance production. Say what?
How should we mark the extinction of the passenger pigeon next year?