- Science: Biodiversity is good even for biofuels.
- Science: Lack of annual diversity is bad for no-till maize (corn).
- Science: “Dead” bananas can still transmit banana bunchy top virus BBTV.
- Science: Potential biological control identified for coffee berry borer. (Eeeyew warning.)
- Art: Biological control (Lilioceris near impressa) of air potato (Dioscorea bulbifera). (Gorgeousness warning.)
- Science: Farmers brought farming to Britain.
- Science and art: A rose is a rose is a rose.
- Science: Black-eyed peas in Dakar gig.
Gassing about beans
As the West and Central Africa Bean Research Network (WECABREN) regional meeting began today, the air was thick with expectation of improving ways to intensify bean production in the region, despite the expected effects of climate change.
I’ll bet it was. Read more here at the CIAT blog.
Nibbles: Dogs dedomesticated, coffee, climate change squared, Rice. Carnival
- 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