Climate change

Nibbles: Cannabis, Biochar, Hessian fly, Conference, Anti-conference, Mexican seeds

Plant domain name changes hands for “high” price.
Biochar reduces emissions of greenhouse gases from glacial soils. Probably cures dandruff too.
We love resistance to wheat hessian fly, as an example of the value of agricultural biodiversity. Now it gets really interesting.
18th Annual International Sustainable Development Research Conference, University of Hull. h/t CAPRi Deadline for submissions is Thursday! Hurry!
But wait! “‘Sustainable Development’ Is Often Used Gratuitously”.
Local seed saving in Mexico.

The climate change boys have been looking for places where maize and beans will, and will not, thrive.
An Australian journalist reports from Kenya, courtesy of The Crawford Fund.
Rewriting the metanarrative of The Fertile Crescent.
Dorian Fuller goes on to examine recent papers on rice and millet domestication … so we don’t have to.
Back40 previews Tyler Cowan’s new book An Economist Gets Lunch: New Rules for Everyday Foodies. Can I wait until April?
How to control stemborers and striga with agrobiodiversity. Undated. Is it new?
Arche Noah revitalized? Again, is this new? C’mon people, date those suckers.

In recognition of the fact that I’ve spent the past week at CIMMYT up to my ears in the CGIAR, an all-CGIAR edition!

CCAFS unleashes hell. Well, Climate Analogues anyway. No, wait…
How does CCAFS measure impact anayway? Well, by documenting progress in adaptation relative to a baseline, of course. What I want to know is how the baseline captures within-crop diversity.
Meanwhile, HarvestPlus is having another impact of its own. Well, I guess we’ll really have to wait for the health studies to be sure, but anyway.
And speaking of impact, IFPRI now says that surveys show that the food crisis was not really a crisis for the poor, where simulations say it was. Now what?
ILRI remembers the visit of Angela Merkel, and, probably unrelatedly, discovers the joys of fermentation.
WorldFish got a brand new website. Does Climate Analogues work for fish?

The Wall Street Journal tries to get its head around genebanks, climate change and plant breeding, with mixed success.
Farming essential to threatened wildlife. Now there’s a turnup for the books.
A Ugandan wants intellectual property laws for agricultural development. I think share and share alike would be good too.

Blogposts from Durban I: Evergreen Agriculture for all
Blogposts from Durban II: Meteorologists, traditional and modern.
And the quote of the day, yesterday: “There is no word in English for the Irish word that translates, roughly, as ubuntu.”