Category: Breeding

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Planting a barrier to block UG99 wheat rust

An article in the November issue of Agricultural Research magazine, house organ of the US Department of Agriculture, warns: “World Wheat Supply Threatened!” complete with exclamation point. Well, yes, as we have indeed pointed out before. However, the article’s subtitle explains: “Luckily, research is under way to defend this grain of life.”

Phew! They had me worried.

Hidden in the write-up, which is to-the-point and interesting, is what struck me as a pretty off-the-wall suggestion. US scientists plan to focus resistant varieties (if and when they are developed) in southern states such as Texas, Georgia and Louisiana. The spores of UG99 can overwinter in the warm climates of the South, so the hope is that by preventing the disease getting a hold there, they can prevent it spreading to the rest of the country. Intriguing idea, but I wonder whether it really stands a chance.

There’s more in the article, on the resistance genes that might be inserted into US wheats and on the vital role of properly trained people in the field, who spotted UG99 early on and were able to sound the alarm.

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Africa got milk

Carlos Seré, the Director General of the International Livestock Research Institute, said, at a recent meeting on how improved livestock breeding can help alleviate poverty, that high world milk prices are a great opportunity for small-scale producers in Africa. Normally that kind of thing would just make me yawn. But my mother-in-law is one such small-scale producer, so I read the copious material provided by the ILRI public awareness people with interest.

“In Kenya, for example, the familiar black-and-white Holstein dairy cow is a status symbol among smallholders, who want to own this high-milk-producing exotic animal,” Seré said. “Smart and sustainable breeding strategies that conserve local breeds can bring about higher smallholder milk production.”

I can personally vouch for that. There was talk at the conference about coming up with better adapted breeds:

We need higher-producing cross-breeds for the high-potential areas as well as hardier cross-breeds for less-favourable agricultural areas, particularly Kenya’s vast drylands where water, feed and veterinary services are scarce.

And also about the marketing side:

Over the last decade, scientists at ILRI’s Nairobi-headquarters have worked with the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI), the Kenyan Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries Development, and civil society groups to help transform the country’s 39,000 informal ‘raw’ milk sellers into legitimate milk marketers.

All well and good. But I know what my mother-in-law’s main problem is with her milk. She can’t get it down to the cooperative for processing quickly, cheaply and reliably enough on those terrible roads up in the Limuru highlands, especially during the rains. Anybody doing anything about that?

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High Plains Drifting

Wheat being nudged and prodded into perenniality, and local perennials the other way ((That’s the Land Institute stuff we’ve blogged about before.)); cows managed like bison, and bison managed like cows (including by media moguls turned restauranteurs); reenactments of Custer’s Last Stand, and Indian retirees going home to the reservation; farmers paid to retire some of their acres so grasslands can make a comeback, and high-tech plants turning corn into diapers. There sure is some funny stuff going on in the Great Plains, that sixth of the continental US between the foothills of the Rockies and the 98th (or possibly the 100th) parallel. Read all about it in National Geographic’s Change of Heartland. The feature is from a couple of years ago, but still well worth checking out, if only for the photos. And thanks to Kem and her friend for pointing it out to me.

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A peach of a result for diversity and nutrition

Nobody eats a peach because they fancy a shot of carotenoids. Or do they? If so, they’d be better off choosing a yellow-fleshed variety. Scientists at Texas A&M University have examined the nutrients in 22 peach and 53 plum varieties and — Lo! — there are significant differences among them. ((Vizzotto, M., Cisneros-Zevallos, L., Byrne, D.H., Ramming, D.W. and Okie, W.R. 2006. TOTAL PHENOLIC, CAROTENOID, AND ANTHOCYANIN CONTENT AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF PEACH AND PLUM GENOTYPES. Acta Hort. (ISHS) 713:453-456.))

The differences in the genotype’s specific antioxidant capacity indicated that the phenolic profiles in the genotypes differ significantly. In general, the wide range of phytochemical content and antioxidant activity (AOA) found indicate that the genetic variability present can be used to develop cultivars with enhanced health benefits.

Meantime, if you can’t wait for new varieties, just pick red fleshed peaches for antioxidant activity and yellow ones for a vitamin A boost. Seriously, this is another little package of data on varietal differences, and as such we welcome it.

Hat tip: Seeds Aside.