- Take a tour around the world’s most important cacao germplasm collection.
- “[D]iversified systems were more profitable than monocropping,” but read the whole paper. You have 30 days, free.
- Open source science to measure the impact of biochar.
- “Pro-biochar activists can be as silly as these anti-biochar activists.” Well, duh. But thanks for explaining.
- Gehry builds Panama a Museum of Biodiversity, but seems to forget about agriculture.
- Kano’s fish market takes a hit.
- All about rancio.
Nibbles: Gas, Gas, Conference, Food systems, Food systems, Food systems, Food systems, Coconuts, Sugar
- Who really cares about cow farts anyway when we have coal fired power plants to deal with? We do.
- On the other hand … “Agriculture has been missing in the run-up talks to Copenhagen“
- Visit Puglia, study Food Law & Policy. What’s not to like?
- Jane Jacobs, Manchester, Birmingham and more robust food systems.
- On the other hand … Pig City is the most provocative concept at “Carrot City”
- Tienes hambre? All about Mexican food.
- Fishing for glass eels in Japan. Yummie.
- Rainfall predicts coconut yield in Sri Lanka.
- Another use for agave.
Nibbles: Student, Sea cucumbers, Reindeer, Climate change, Urban beeking, Taro diseases, Markets, Apples
- Adam Forbes updates us on his travels in Ethiopia and Peru in search of seeds. Check out his pix too.
- “…sea cucumber populations across the globe, from Asia to the Galapagos, are increasingly in trouble.” Oh dear.
- Satellites help reindeer herders by looking for snow melt. Sounds very cost-effective.
- IFPRI says agriculture will be “dramatically” affected by climate change. Oh dear.
- Keeping bees in cities.
- All you ever wanted to know about taro diseases. With pic goodness! Via.
- Walking London’s markets.
- Navarre: “276 varieties of autochthonous apple tree have been described.”
Not an April fool: climate change and agriculture
Mariann Fischer Boel ((EU commissioner for agriculture.)) writes:
The evidence of climate change is compelling. It is happening and it will hit the European Union. As it does so, European agriculture will feel the full force.
Most people understand that global warming will damage the environment. Fewer people understand that it could also land a hammer blow on food production … at a time when we expect the global population to grow from around 7 billion to 9 billion by 2050.
Some regions of the EU could benefit from climate change for a time: for example, yields in some northern zones could increase. On the other hand, the droughts that we foresee would hurt southern European countries which are already running short of water for irrigation. In the EU as a whole we can expect more sudden heatwaves, more sudden storms, more sudden floods. The sheer unpredictability of the weather will make the farmer’s life very difficult.
Question: why publish it on April 1, when the world is looking for hidden agendas?
Meanwhile, SciDev.net reports on a new report from those masters of the data-filled report, the International Food Policy Research Institute. According to SciDev.net:
Agriculture will be “dramatically” affected by climate change, says the paper, published by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). It could also become a potent brake on climate change if the right research and policies are implemented.
But its role has yet to be championed in the build-up to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change negotiations to take place in Copenhagen in December, says the paper ‘Agriculture and Climate Change: An Agenda for Negotiation in Copenhagen’.
Question: who is going to be championing agriculture in Copenhagen?
Nibbles: Soil diversity, Coffee, Ants, Haskap, Biochar
- “Spreading antibiotics in the soil affects microbial ecosystems“. No shit.
- Drink more (Rwandan) coffee. What about the other coffee countries?
- Cane toad nemesis: meat ants. Eeyew.
- 1st Virtual International Scientific Conference On Lonicera caerulea L. Via .
- The biochar backlash. Oliver snips and links.