- IITA’s Hartmann on the BBC.
- Bats protect coffee plants from insect pests.
- GBIF grants awards, pollinators well covered.
- New fungal disease threatens avocado production.
Nibbles: Donkeys, UG99, fruit GI, negected species, Spore
- Cypriot wild donkeys in trouble.
- Gates Foundation tackles wheat rust UG99. Phew!
- Malaysians measure fruit glycemic indices, no mention of varieties.
- English exposed to neglected species.
- Sorry, missed the redesigned Spore.
Nibbles: cats, pulses, cherries
- The World Cat Congress is on. Hipsters hanging out, smoking dope, listening to jazz, I imagine. Very select, though.
- Canadian boffins evaluate nutritional differences among pulse cultivars. Regular readers recognize leitmotif.
- Celebrity chefs try to save British cherry orchards. Madame Ranevskaya happy to hear it.
More spud news than anyone needs
Today’s crop of heartwarming potato stories come to you from Peru, the Philippines and India. First, Living in Peru has a fluff piece about how Peruvians are not eating enough potatoes, and that something must be done about it. It also says that “Peru has 2,800 of the 3,900 varieties of potatoes that exist in the world today.” I have no idea where they got those figures, whether they are close to the truth, or whether we even know the truth. But I’ll try to dig a little deeper and report back.
Then comes the Philippines Information Authority with news that a new potato variety is to be released in that country, bearing the name of the president. How sweet. The article says that the “original planting material was sourced” from the International Potato Centre (CIP), and previously had the codename “13.1.1”. The variety is blight-resistant and high in solids, and is supposed to be good for organic conditions. Now, it would have been interesting to know a little more about 13.1.1, but some rapid checking revealed nothing. Again, I will dig further.
And finally, news from India that a local farmer’s son, who went to the US for training in plant physiology and pathology, has now come back and set up a tissue culture lab on the family farm. Now that’s what I call technology transfer. But you wonder what kind of a farmer the father is. Not your typical Indian farmer, I’ll wager.
Nibbles: Eco-tourism, peas, apples, mozzarella
- USAID promotes eco-tourism in Uganda, no mention of agriculture.
- Genetics 101 (cont). Rebsie explains all.
- Irishman finds apples in Orange.
- Hold the pizza.