Climate change

November 28, 2012November 28, 2012

Nibbles: Agriculture and climate change and GM and nutrition

Farmers are “the canaries in the mine when it comes to climate change,” says The Financial Times. Get the whole report as a PDF.
Bioversity says it has climate change covered with a new Seeds for Needs project. Is there an echo in here?
Farming First covers climate change in an infographic.
Avenue of the Baobabs in Madagascar burnt down. Better edit those factsheets.
Heirloom maize farmers talk sense on GM corn shock …
… but Punjab doesn’t care. Invites Monsanto “To put agriculture diversification on the fast track”.

And we’ve got nutrition in spades:

Jessica Fanzo wins the Carasso Prize for her great research on nutrition. Proud to call her a friend.
There was a roundtable associated with the Carasso Prize. Lawrence Haddad blogs about it.
Pity that roundtable clashed with Workshop: ‘Adding Value to Local Foods for Food and Nutrition Security: Myth or Strategic Option’ in the Caribbean.
Will the Caribbean warm to finger millet? Zester Daily just wants to share the gluten-free goodness.
Bere whisky. No, you read that right. Bere as in barley, not as in beer. But then, barley is in beer. Where’s an etymologist when you need one?

November 26, 2012November 23, 2012

Brainfood: Pig genome, Turkey genome, Big genomes, Maize genome, Potato improvement, Mango diversity, Coconut germination

Analyses of pig genomes provide insight into porcine demography and evolution. More wild diversity in Asia, suggesting origin there, followed by migration to Europe. Separate domestication in SE Asia and Europe, followed by geneflow.
Whole genome SNP discovery and analysis of genetic diversity in Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo). Lot less diverse than chicken. Or pig. Commercial breed even less diverse.
Why size really matters when sequencing plant genomes. We must not shy away from the big genomes.
QTL mapping in three tropical maize populations reveals a set of constitutive and adaptive genomic regions for drought tolerance. Eureka!
Crops that feed the world 8: Potato: are the trends of increased global production sustainable? Maybe. But can you guess what will be needed? Nice review of genebank holdings and improvement strategies and aims.
Physico-chemical Characterization of Unexploited Mango Diversity in Sub-mountane Zone of Northern India. 28 varieties in the Punjab, with all kinds of different uses.
Germination Rate is the Significant Characteristic Determining Coconut Palm Diversity. Natural and artificial selection associated with different rates of germination (as well as other phenotypic traits of course).

November 22, 2012November 21, 2012

Nibbles: Malawi SNA, Growth, Sustainability, Farming carbon, Carnival history

I know you’re just dying to see a Social Network Analysis of agricultural research in Malawi.
Big cheeses say Economic growth alone won’t end hunger.
Wendell Berry is taking a long-term view of the long-term land “emergency” in the US.
The heck with food, say Oz ag wonks, let’s farm carbon.
Hey, why doesn’t somebody do this for Berry go Round? (We’re way too busy.)

November 19, 2012November 19, 2012

Brainfood: Spanish terraces, Flower patches, Population ecology, Maize germplasm use, Seed info system, Maize and CC, Medicago predation, Species richness prediction, Rice salt-tolerance

The genesis of irrigated terraces in al-Andalus. A geoarchaeological perspective on intensive agriculture in semi-arid environments (Ricote, Murcia, Spain). They were built very early on, on a specific soil type, by first burning the vegetation and then essentially inverting the soil profile.
Creating patches of native flowers facilitates crop pollination in large agricultural fields: mango as a case study. Sweet.
The ecology of plant populations: their dynamics, interactions and evolution. A whole special issue. Most intriguing is perhaps review of plant-pollinator interactions on the Galapagos. All very important for in situ conservation of crop wild relatives.
Diversity in global maize germplasm: Characterization and utilization. Three priorities: phenotyping, phenotyping, phenotyping.
Phytotracker, an information management system for easy recording and tracking of plants, seeds and plasmids. They could have used GRIN-Global, but I guess that doesn’t track plasmids.
Increasing influence of heat stress on French maize yields from the 1960s to the 2030s. Any day with maximum temperature above 32°C is bad, and their recent increase has led to yield stagnation. They are going to increase further, which means that the French are going to have to find a 12% increase in base yields by 2035 or eat less maize. Do they in fact eat any maize now? What countries are now like what France will be like in 2035?
Combined impact of multiple exotic herbivores on different life stages of an endangered plant endemism, Medicago citrina. IUCN says it’s endangered. Rabbits, mice and rats are important parts of the problem.
Estimating species richness: still a long way off!. Bummer.
New allelic variants found in key rice salt-tolerance genes: an association study. A couple possibly interesting mutations identified by EcoTILLING bunch of IRRI accessions. We shall see if anything comes of them. Actually, how will we find out if something does? I hope the info will go back into the IRRI genebank documentation system.

November 17, 2012November 17, 2012

Nibbles: AIRCA lives, Graft mangos, Breed forage, Discuss seed laws, Overfish

Apologies for the lack of service; we’re a bit all over the map.

The Association of International Research and Development Centres for Agriculture (AIRCA) comes a step closer. Smallholder farmers rejoice.
Side grafting and informal scion exchange for fun and profit. Smallholder mango farmers rejoice.
Annals of botany highlights strategies for forage and grass improvement. Forage breeders and livestock rejoice.
European NGOs discuss non-paper on revision to seed legislation. Eurocrats see no reason to rejoice.
German development agency goes large on small fish stocks, with added political goodness. Fisherfolk see no reason to rejoice either.