Breeding

November 23, 2021November 23, 2021

Full access to the full Access to Seeds Index

We’ve blogged about it before, but the 2021 Access to Seeds Index is now fully out, following the 2019 and 2016 indexes. ((Full disclosure: I’m on the Expert Review Committee.))

On September 21, alongside the UN Food systems summit, we launched the first regional results of 32 companies in Western and Central Africa. Then, on October 15, we launched the results of 32 companies in Eastern and Southern Africa, which coincided with the 2021 World Food Day celebration. Finally, on November 22, we launched the results of 31 companies in South and South-East Asia at the Asia Pacific Seed Association’s technical session.

Remember why this is important.

Smallholder farmers are the main food producers in lower-income countries, and their access to good quality seeds of improved varieties is essential for ensuring that people in these regions have sufficient, safe, and nutritious food. Ultimately, the index evaluates seed companies’ contributions to achieving Sustainable Development Goal 2: Zero Hunger. Seed companies play a key role in ensuring this access.

The main take-aways?

Presence: Seed companies are active in almost all index countries across Sub-Saharan Africa and South and South-East Asia but can extend their reach to remote areas.

Crop diversification: Many companies are providing more diverse portfolios for vegetables and field crops but need to offer more pulses to help tackle malnutrition

Extension services: Companies are offering extension services in more countries than in 2019 and leveraged ICT tools to reach smallholder farmers as an impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on traditional field training.

Local seed sector development: Companies are still only concentrating their investments in developing local seed sectors such as seed production, breeding programs and processing in a few countries. This approach leaves behind many smallholders in many countries who can benefit from a developed local seed sector. Therefore, it’s crucial for the seed industry to collaborate with research institutes, investors, civil society, and governments in industry growth in more countries to strengthen capabilities and means to reach more farmers in all regions.

Lots of data to dig into. And comments always welcome.

November 22, 2021November 22, 2021

Brainfood: Transeurasian languages, Japanese rice, Grapevine pip shapes, Citrus evolution & domestication, Yak domestication, Brassica domestication, Coffee diversity, Switchgrass diversity, Onion landrace, Seed systems

Triangulation supports agricultural spread of the Transeurasian languages. People speaking the precursor of Japonic, Koreanic, Tungusic, Mongolic and Turkic languages started out around the West Liao River and then spread with their Panicum millet farming, mixing with other populations and picking up rice and wheat along the way.
Artificial selection in the expansion of rice cultivation. They managed to get to Hokkaido with that rice because of a couple of genes. Rice genes, that is.
Pip shape echoes grapevine domestication history. If they had carried grapevines, we’d be able to say which varieties.
Shaping the biology of citrus: I. Genomic determinants of evolution. They maybe had a role in citrus domestication, but a lot of the hard work was done by the prior adaptive radiation of the group. The citrus group, that is. Quick summary of both papers here if you can get access to it.
Yak Domestication: A Review of Linguistic, Archaeological, and Genetic Evidence. They weren’t involved in yak domestication, though, I don’t think.
The Evolutionary History of Wild, Domesticated, and Feral Brassica oleracea (Brassicaceae). Nor that of Brassica oleracea, whose closest wild relative turns out to be half a world away on Crete.
Coffee: Genetic Diversity, Erosion, Conservation, and Utilization. Ok, stay with me here. Brassica oleracea is related to Brassica carinata, which originated in Ethiopia, which is also where arabica coffee comes from.
Surveying Grassland Islands: the genetics and performance of Appalachian switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) collections. If you can find a close connection between coffee and switchgrass you get a prize. Ah no wait, there are 2 ploidy levels, just like in Coffea. Yeah, I know it’s tenuous.
Agrobiodiversity-Oriented Food Systems between Public Policies and Private Action: A Socio-Ecological Model for Sustainable Territorial Development. These guys really know their onions. And think they can use their conservation as a spur to local development. In Italy, but who’s to say it couldn’t work in Ethiopia as well.
Putting diverse farming households’ preferences and needs at the centre of seed system development. Imagine.

November 15, 2021December 9, 2021

Brainfood: Chickpea genomes, DIIVA, Maize evolution, Malting barley, Wild gluten, Cucurbit review, Coconut genome double, USDA rice collection, CIAT bean collection, PGRFA data integration, USA cattle diversity, PGRFA history

A chickpea genetic variation map based on the sequencing of 3,366 genomes. Where the good and the bad alleles are. Even The Economist is impressed.
Crop Wild Relatives Crosses: Multi-Location Assessment in Durum Wheat, Barley, and Lentil. There are lots of good alleles in the wild relatives.
The arches and spandrels of maize domestication, adaptation, and improvement. Some alleles are good by accident, and that’s ok.
Malting Quality of ICARDA Elite Winter Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) Germplasm Grown in Moroccan Middle Atlas. Here are some alleles for good beer.
High molecular weight glutenin gene diversity in Aegilops tauschii demonstrates unique origin of superior wheat quality. And here are some alleles for good gluten. In a wild relative from unexpected place, as it turns out. More in the press release.
Genetic resources of bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria (Molina) Standl.] and citron watermelon (Citrullus lanatus var. citroides (L.H. Bailey) Mansf. ex Greb.): implications for genetic improvement, product development and commercialization: a review. Not just good as rootstocks, and lots of alleles to play with.
Coconut genome assembly enables evolutionary analysis of palms and highlights signaling pathways involved in salt tolerance. Looks like coconut might have lost a lot of good alleles at the end of the Pleistocene glaciations.
High-quality reference genome sequences of two coconut cultivars provide insights into evolution of monocot chromosomes and differentiation of fiber content and plant height. The same gene controls height in coconuts as in maize and rice.
Enhancing the searchability, breeding utility, and efficient management of germplasm accessions in the USDA−ARS rice collection. And now you can look for rice germplasm with the good height allele you want.
History and impact of a bean (Phaseolus spp., Leguminosae, Phaseoleae) collection. Hopefully will be able to do the same for this bean collection soon.
Integrating Genomic and Phenomic Approaches to Support Plant Genetic Resources Conservation and Use. The above, summarized.
Gene Bank Collection Strategies Based Upon Geographic and Environmental Indicators for Beef Breeds in the United States of America. The above, plus environmental data, for cattle.
History of Global Germplasm Conservation System. The above, writ large.

November 11, 2021

Nibbles: Wild wheat, Saving coffee, Wild rice, 3 Sisters video, Blenheim honeybees, NDCs

The ancient, wild, Georgian roots of bread wheat gluten.
Wild relatives could help us save coffee. But we knew that. Right?
Photosynthesis in wild rices responds more quickly to light changes than in the crop, stomata not so much. Sometimes domestication giveth, sometimes it taketh away.
It gave us the Three Sisters for sure. With video goodness.
Honeybees have wild relatives too. Well, maybe.
But do the NDCs recognise any of the above?

November 10, 2021November 10, 2021

Nibbles: Mesopotamian ag & gardens, Old dogs, Ethiopian church groves, High Desert Seed, Australian Rubus, Fuggle hop, New sweet potato, Naming organisms

Jeremy’s newsletter deals with Sumerian grains, among other things.
Which may have been grown in the gardens of Uruk.
I suppose the Sumerians must have had weird dogs frolicking around their gardens?
Maybe they even thought of their gardens as sacred places. You know, like in Ethiopia.
Seeds for a desert half a world away from Sumeria.
Meanwhile, half a world away in the other direction, a thornless raspberry takes a bow.
The Sumerians had beer, right? Not with this hop though. Or any hops, actually.
Pretty sure they didn’t have sweet potatoes either. Of any colour.
They had names for whatever they grew of course. And such vernacular names can be a pain in the ass, but also kinda fun.