- Nagib Nassar challenges the wisdom of GM cassava. Cultivate indigenous and wild varieties of the crop!
- Or fonio (Digitaria exilis). New paper on its diversity.
- And for dessert? Wild apple diversity?
- Need salad? How about Salicornia then?
- Nice aurochs steak to go with the salad?
- Not too soon to start planning a future harvest, if you’re in Ireland and want seeds.
Assuming genebanks
Most crop geneticists agree that enrichment of the cultivated gene pool will be necessary to meet the challenges that lie ahead. However, to fully capitalize on the extensive reservoir of favorable alleles within wild germplasm, many advances are still needed. These include increasing our understanding of the molecular basis for key traits, expanding the phenotyping and genotyping of germplasm collections, improving our molecular understanding of recombination in order to enhance rates of introgression of alien chromosome regions, and developing new breeding strategies that permit introgression of multiple traits. Recent progress has shown that each of these challenges is tractable and within reach if some of the basic problems limiting the application of new technologies can be tackled.
That’s from Breeding Technologies to Increase Crop Production in a Changing World, part of the recent Science special feature on food security. Sure, the challenges of use are tractable. But what if those germplasm collections are inadequate in their coverage, accessibility, management or funding? As ever, genebanks are pretty much taken for granted in these sorts of discussions.
Agrobiodiversity to rebuild Haiti
So, let’s recap. Rebuilding Haitian agriculture will need agroforestry, permaculture, biotech bananas, high-end rum, and specialty coffees. No, that’s unduly flippant. The diversity of ideas is actually rather encouraging.
Science does food security
You’ll remember Jeremy waxing lyrical a few days back about a Science paper on “the challenge of feeding 9 billion people.” That paper now finds itself part of a special issue on food security. ((Which is also the subject of a NY Times blog post.))
In the 12 February 2010 issue, Science examines the obstacles to achieving global food security and some promising solutions. News articles introduce farmers and researchers who are finding ways to boost harvests, especially in the developing world. Reviews, Perspectives, and an audio interview provide a broader context for the causes and effects of food insecurity and point to paths to ending hunger. A special podcast includes interviews about measuring food insecurity, rethinking agriculture, and reducing meat consumption.
A lot of it is behind a paywall, but something that isn’t is Radically Rethinking Agriculture for the 21st Century. That radical rethink, in case you’re wondering, consists of using more biotechnology and saline water. Right.
Nibbles: Vet, Pastoralists, Eggplant, US food map, Mexican food, Poultry, Maize, GMOs
- What’s it like being the only vet in a country? The BBC tells us.
- The CBD on how to be a good pastoralist.
- James does a mini-roundup of the India GM brinjal to-do.
- Mapping the fast food culture.
- Mexico wants Unesco to recognize culinary traditions. As if tamales were in danger of extinction. Didn’t France ask for the same last year?
- Heirloom chickens don’t taste like chicken.
- Deconstructing the cultural significance of the colour of corn.
- “GM crops: still not a panacea for poor farmers.” In other news, still no cure for cancer.