Nibbles: CGIAR “change”, Cuba, Data, Pavlovsk, Homegardens, Soil bacteria, Thai rice

Beer drinkers finally get recognition they deserve

We have been keeping an interested eye on the apparent resurgence of sorghum in some parts of Africa, driven by climate change, sure, but also by man’s (and woman’s) unquenchable thirst for beer. The latest story along those happy lines comes from Kenya. It might have remained a mere Nibble, but for the coincidental appearance of a study suggesting that “beer drinkers can serve as role models for the nation as it struggles to emerge from recession.” In Britain and, presumably, in Africa too.

LATER: Oh, and this just in too. A fine day for beer drinkers indeed.

Nibbles: Oil palm, Breadfruit, Barcoding, Guyana genebank, Wheat and heat

Nibbles: Climate change, Monitoring, Evaluation, Vegetables, FAO newsletters, Guardians

What US Congress now knows

As we mentioned 10 days ago, the US Congress had a briefing on Climate Change and Agriculture on 16 June 2010. The AAAS, which co-sponsored the briefing, uploaded some of the presentations, but the one that interested us most didn’t work. Fortunately the speaker, Professor Paul Gepts of UC Davis, is a good friend of this blog, and he let us have a proper copy of his presentation on Agricultural Biodiversity and Plant Breeding: Adapting to Global Climate Change.

Professor Gepts told us, “Please keep in mind the fact that this presentation had to be around 10 min long (and no more!) and that it had to address a general public of congressional staffers.” We think he did a pretty good job.