- CIMMYT pushes its newly-bred water-efficient maize in Africa.
- AGRA not mentioned in the above but surely they were involved? If only in the extension part.
- African universities also not mentioned, but probably less likely to have been involved. Alas.
- Register for the next class of the European Plant Breeding Academy, which starts in October 2015. Not at an African university. At a US university.
- ICRISAT pivots towards millets. Will probably involve breeding. And maybe universities.
- As for genebanks, I’ve given up expecting namechecks in any of the above.
Genebanks and farmers
As they cooperate with seed companies, the gene banks do not feel responsible for distribution of seeds to their prime users, the peasants. Thus, the peasant is not taken as a stakeholder of the plant breeding and the seed conservation and production. But, as the choice of seeds influences the type of agriculture, of landscape, of environment and of food, it is hypocritical not letting this choice, this right to the peasants. It is essential to put the peasants in the heart of seed conservation and to esteem the social role of seeds: they allow people to produce food, to share knowledge and traditions, and to be independent from any corporate dependence.
That’s according to Lena Haun, Agrobiodiversity Campaigner Intern at Eco Ruralis, after talking to genebanks in France and Romania. But with all due respect, I find it very hard to believe the premise that “gene banks do not feel responsible for distribution of seeds to their prime users, the peasants.” Want an example? Here’s Dave Ellis from the genebank of the International Potato Center:
For example, we found in our collection potato cultivars that were collected in the last 30 to 40 years in Peru’s Sacred Valley, and gave those varieties back to the communities that live in the Parque de la Papa, close to Cusco. Now they are growing and testing them again. This is really important, as the Sacred Valley is one place in the world where we have documented evidence of the need for flexibility in potato cultivation due to a rapidly changing climate.
I think Dave feels responsible for distribution of potato diversity from the CIP genebank to its prime users, the peasants. Don’t you? So do the partners involved in Bioversity’s Seeds for Needs initiative, ((Being showcased these days in Paris at #CFCC15.)) for example. And every national genebank manager I’ve ever spoken to, for that matter.
Sure, genebanks collaborate with seed companies. And what’s wrong with that, if farmers end up with more, better choices? Anyway, they also collaborate with public sector plant breeders. And work directly with farmers in many, many cases. They could probably do it more. But to say that genebanks don’t feel a responsibility for making the diversity they maintain available to farming communities is just plain wrong.
Remember the genebanks!
Climate smart agriculture = diverse agriculture, and vice versa
USAID is seeking feedback on the climate smart agriculture (CSA) strategy of its Feed the Future programme. Recall that CSA has three objectives ((This is the USDA definition, which differs slightly from FAO’s.))
- Sustainably increasing agricultural productivity and incomes.
- Adapting and building resilience to climate change.
- Reducing and/or removing greenhouse gas emissions, where appropriate.
So it’s that triple-win we’re after, and it’s good to see diversification being highlighted in that context by the strategy document:
In general, Mission FTF programs work within diversified production systems that reflect farmer choice around crops, livestock or fish although one value chain may be the focus. Diversification includes not only the number of crops, but also using a wider range of improved varieties and staggered planting times for a given crop. Over a longer time period, crop choices by farmers may shift as risks with one crop rise while another crop option is viewed as a safer bet. Thus diversification can be a strategy for managing risk and optimizing returns, particularly when informed by information on potential shocks, seasonal forecasts and long term climate trends. Ultimately, it will be farmers who directly determine their risks, but FTF programs can help widen the array of appropriate options that confer greater resilience as well as more efficient production with a concomitant reduced GHG footprint.
But why a wider range of only improved varieties? Don’t landraces or varietal or other types of mixtures have any role to play at all? And why mention staggered planting times, but not intercropping, say?
And, most importantly, why no mention at all of conservation of crop diversity as a prerequisite for diversification, and the role of genebanks in that? After all…
…it is likely that some (if not all) countries will need germplasm that is currently grown elsewhere to adapt.
And where is that going to come from if not genebanks? You can let USAID know until noon on August 14, 2015.
Brainfood: Weed collection, Japan vs China wheat, China wheat, Indian maize, Aromatic rice, African cattle, Food system vulnerabilities, SDGs & nutrition, Suitable days, Setaria phenotyping
- Genetic Resources of Cannabis sativa L. in the Collection of the Gene Bank at INF&MP in Poznan. I’d pay money to see this in the field at evaluation time.
- Specific median flour particle size distribution of Japanese common wheats; Comparison with Chinese common wheats. Japanese diversity is a small fraction of Chinese diversity. Also, can you really have semicolons in titles?
- Association and Validation of Yield-Favored Alleles in Chinese Cultivars of Common Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). And among Chinese wheats, the modern cultivars are a small subset of the diversity in the mini core collection.
- Diversity among maize landraces in North West Himalayan region of India assessed by agro-morphological and quality traits. I like it when specific accessions are highlighted as being special in some way. But will breeders around the world have access to them?
- Genetic Diversity and Population Structure in Aromatic and Quality Rice (Oryza sativa L.) Landraces from North-Eastern India. More than just basmati. But will breeders around the world have access to them?
- African Indigenous Cattle: Unique Genetic Resources in a Rapidly Changing World. At least 150 breeds, many endangered, all important.
- Sustainable Sourcing of Global Agricultural Raw Materials: Assessing Gaps in Key Impact and Vulnerability Issues and Indicators. We don’t know the vulnerabilities well enough.
- Can the sustainable development goals reduce the burden of nutrition-related non-communicable diseases without truly addressing major food system reforms? No.
- Suitable Days for Plant Growth Disappear under Projected Climate Change: Potential Human and Biotic Vulnerability. Tropical areas are screwed.
- A versatile phenotyping system and analytics platform reveals diverse temporal responses to water availability in Setaria. Fancy equipment picks out differences among genotypes.