- USDA goes to the closets.
- Brazil to teach Tunisia how to grow wheat. Exchange of germplasm involved.
- ICRISAT DG makes a pitch for dryland farmers. And aquaculturists?
- A plan for cacao sustainability in Africa agreed. Germplasm not involved?
- Americans eat a lot of corn. A lot.
- The romance of cheese-making. Romance? These people should get out more.
- Peru offers Obamas a “cute” puppy. I still prefer the Mexican version.
Nibbles: Dogs, Children, Catfish, Research
- Dalmatian dog defect discovered.
- Better nutrition sneaked into school meals.
- Nebraska plans huge fry-up.
- Private-public partnerships needed to feed Africa. Huh?
Wired does food
Wired magazine does some great-looking graphics. And the latest, on how science will solve the food crisis, is no exception. As for the content, well, I’m not sure that the future of global farming is down to push-pull intercropping, remote sensing and data-driven rotation, but it’s good to see things other than new seeds and fertilizers being given a chance. And somebody should tell Wired there are more than three plant genebanks in the world.
Cassava rules
The IITA public awareness machine must be in overdrive, and it looks like it’s running on cassava. Today
- a cassava mosaic project got a namecheck in the Sunday Tribune,
- news of a newly released drought tolerant variety got picked up in African Science News Service, and
- a meeting on value addition got an article in the wonderfully-named Daily Triumph.
Not that I’m complaining. It’s about time cassava got the attention it deserves in Africa.
Plant Breeding News is out
The latest Plant Breeding News is out, though only if you’re registered for email alerts. However, in a couple of days you should be able to get October’s digest on the archive page, where you can also subscribe. Lots of stuff about breeding for climate change in this issue. It’s a great resource, brought to you by the Global Partnership Initiative for Plant Breeding Capacity Building (GIPB). And I’m not just saying that because they gave us a namecheck this month.