- Dogs live wild run free in Moscow.
- Climate change and coffee. CIAT rules.
- “Reasons to be optimistic”: Jarvis on Copenhagen.
- “The meeting did deliver”: DFID blogger on Copenhagen.
- Jazzman rice. Say it loud, it’s Murcan and proud. h/t James.
- Scientia Pro Publica, the blog carnival, is up, with added capuccino madness
Nibbles: Goldman Environmental Prize, UK networking, European landraces publication, Seed Warriors, India agrobiodiversity sites, Beer books, Teosinte, Drought foods, Sugarcane genebank, Regional genebank in South Asia, Rhubarb, Annals, Food articles, Cryo
- Goldman Prizewinner Jesús León Santos: “It is time we recognize that traditional agricultural methods can make strong contributions to biodiversity conservation. We should encourage it and value it as a way to produce healthy foods that conserve and care for the environment.” Time indeed.
- British twofer: The Food Climate Research Network aims “to better understand how the food system contributes to greenhouse gas emissions, and to research and promote ways of reducing them.” Then there’s the Foresight Project on Global Food and Farming Futures. Will they talk to each other, I wonder.
- From Bioversity, “European landraces: on-farm conservation, management and use.” I wonder if the Foresight Project will download a copy.
- The “Seed Warriors” trailer. Oscar buzz, I hear.
- Agricultural biodiversity heritage sites in India. Ethnobotanist brings together information on food plants used during drought. Mashup, anyone?
- A book about beer. My two favourite things. Oooh, here’s another couple! And it’s not over: Spiegel weighs in on the old chestnut about beer being the reason for agriculture. My tankard runneth over.
- CIMMYT team monitors teosinte. Teosinte planning to fight back.
- Regional sugarcane genebank is actually being used! Heartwarming. Oh, and, coincidentally, here’s a history of Indian sugarcane breeding.
- “A SAARC Plant Genetic Resource Bank for rice, wheat and maize may be created to facilitate free exchange of germplasm between the member countries. To begin with, the Indian Gene Bank facilities may be utilized, with suitable modalities.” Not so heartwarming.
- The Russian roots of Alaskan rhubarb. Take that, Palin! Note the bit about St Isaac’s Cathedral, which of course sits opposite VIR. How apposite is that?
- Nigel Chaffey rounds up the usual suspects in presenting a potpourri of “plant-based items from the world’s media” for Annals of Botany. May well be one to watch. And not just because genebanks make an appearance.
- Amazing food roundup.
- Cryopreserving Chip, the Tennessee fainting goat.
Nibbles: Climate Change, Blogs, 1492, Grass, Beers
- Head of Convention on Biological Diversity says nothing to Reuters about climate change and agriculture.
- Link farm lists Top 50 Botany Blogs. We reciprocate.
- “[M]ost of us are the beneficiaries of millennia of acclimatization“. Rachel disses the Columbian Exchange.
- “Men didn’t grind, let alone gentlemen.” Rachel disses Iberian explorers.
- Back40 has a beef with supermarket nonsense. There is grass-fed beef in America.
- The Naked Pint: beers gone wild
Nibbles: LEISA, climate change in the US and India, Cocoa
- ILEIA celebrated 25 years with a conference yesterday. Reports to appear on the blog. h/t Danny
- Summary of the big ag bash in Copenhagen.
- US fruits and vegetables most at risk from climate change, says USDA.
- Wine and corn (maize) too!
- Perhaps they could learn from Indian farmers?
- Cocoa price highest for 32 years. Good news for cocoa farmers? I doubt it.
Nibbles: CWR protected, Aquaculture, Super potato, Maize domestication, Climate in Africa, Zimbabwe, Pepper, Chinese genebank
- Indian tiger park protects crop wild relatives and other useful plants. h/t Danny.
- CAPRi News highlights a book about Asian Aquaculture Successes.
- Precision breeding creates super potato. Yeah, if you want an industrial feedstock, not food.
- Maize moved from hand to hand, not with moving farmers. And that means … ?
- An African view of climate change. Complex.
- Zimbabwe’s advice on climate change: “Plant more sorghum, less maize“. Simple.
- Survival farming in Zimbabwe. Hard.
- Small farmers growing Piper pepper in Vietnam
- China has set up its first national seed bank as part of the country’s efforts to protect biodiversity. I’ve been there, says Jeremy, and it is stunning.