Breeding

Brainfood: Lathyrus sativus, Leafy green porridge, iDArTs, Pungency, Earth ovens, Domestication, Recovery, Maize genomics

Exploring the genetic diversity of Ethiopian grass pea (Lathyrus sativus L.) using EST-SSR markers. They’re variable, especially in Gonder, and future collecting missions need to give “due attention to underrepresented regions”.
Green leafy porridges: how good are they in controlling glycaemic response?. Pretty good, but the leafy greens may not be what you’re expecting.
iDArTs: increasing the value of genomic resources at no cost. No cost for genotyping, that is; the analysis probably does cost.
A versatile PCR marker for pungency in Capsicum spp. Beats having to taste each progeny plant, I suppose.
Earth Ovens (Píib) in the Maya Lowlands: Ethnobotanical Data Supporting Early Use. The food preparation method is as old as the food itself; 3400-3000 bce.
Patterns and processes in crop domestication: an historical review and quantitative analysis of 203 global food crops. Terrific, broad survey, worth more of a write-up.
Changes in Avian and Plant Communities of Aspen Woodlands over 12 Years after Livestock Removal in the Northwestern Great Basin. Removing livestock leads to “recovery of biological integrity”. Because livestock are not integral to anything.
Historical genomics of North American maize. Fascinating analysis indicates selection based on a limited set of ancestor lines, and “decreased diversity in the ancestry of individual lines”.

The 2nd Global Conference on Agriculture, Food Security and Climate Change “Hunger for Action” (Hanoi, Vietnam).
Barder and Kinder Debate London Health Summit and Food Security Policy, so we don’t have to!
A review of a review of restoration ecology for ecosystem services. Ag?
The Seed Underground: listen to a radio interview with US author Janisse Ray. Ag!
Or, if that fails to excite, listen to Save the axolotl! Um, sure, but why? and tell us whether there’s any ag in that.
There’s definitely ag in More than Honey, a new documentary movie.
FDA slaps down misleading claims of fortification (in chocolate syrup)
Cassava mosaic and banana bacterial wilt add to the food security woes of DR Congo.
Rice growers get all the goodies, complain Sri Lankan vegetable growers.
Ivorian agricultural scientists to open access to their research results.
A backyard breeder documents his search for a better bean.

No bananas without soil nutrients.
Perhaps the back story to the banana genome can fix that.
Coupla big Moringa meets coming up in November.
Britain goes for gold in the jumping-on-the-Olympic-bandwagon-to-solve-global-hunger event.
And CEO of Cargill offers coaching: be flexible, try harder.
Deforestation in Guatemala and Belize. I love it when I can see geopolitics from space.
Help Kew digitise its diversity.
FarmAfrica celebrates non-timber forest products in Tanzania.
Which could be of interest to Tanzanian farmers who have experienced the future of climate change.
Nepali farmers say they’ve been hit hard by climate change.
But it is not the reason for the climb of the desert ceanothus.
Americans about to embrace colourful potatoes. Aren’t they always?
The 2013 Vavilov-Frankel Fellowships are now open. Apply here.
Seth Roberts says “I want to take this! Harvard class on fermented food.” Me too.

Using a discrete choice experiment to elicit the demand for a nutritious food: Willingness-to-pay for orange maize in rural Zambia. Farmers say they’ll pay, if they have information about nutrition, and it doesn’t matter how you serve that information. Gotta love economics.
Historical genomics of North American maize. No orange maize here, but clear evidence of decreasing genetic diversity in parental lines.

The National Fungus of Japan explains itself.
The aurochs recreated in fact and fiction. And more.
Yes, that’s what we need to make good on all those GM drought-resistance promises: a new model system. And now for something a little more serious.
Some protected areas don’t work terribly well. Here comes the science.
Darwinian Agriculture explained by the man himself.
Ancient diets deduced from teeth crap and crap crap.