Commodity

Nibbles: Quinoazzzzz, Haiti seed bank, Guatemala seed bank, Seed systems, Hybrid wheat, OFSP, Fish characterization, Vanilla

This quinoa thing is getting tedious.
Clinton brings a seed bank to Haiti, “which will support efforts to increase agricultural production.” Will be interesting to see how exactly it does that.
Whereas this seed bank in Guatemala “is empowering the local community to preserve and grow the seeds.” So there you go.
Of course, those seed banks are going to need seed systems. And vice versa.
And the next milestone in the continuing disempowering of the farmer is…
Orange-fleshed sweet potatoes go aquatic. Where they’ll find fish that need to be compared.
A Tongan vanilla tour.

Geographic patterns in epigenomic variation. Yeah, but in Arabidopsis.
A global strategy for conservation. Yeah, but for cacao.
That “Diversifying Food and Diets — Using Agricultural Biodiversity to Improve Nutrition and Health” book? You’ll be able to get chapters and case studies from a dedicated website nine months after publication.
Not to be outdone, the Ethiopian Institute of Agriculture Research lets you download “Defining Moments in the Ethiopian Seed System.”
New Agriculturist fillets out some contributions to a recent Economist conference on malnutrition.
The Brassica research community gets together in the UK. Not many people hurt.

Yes, because the world desperately needs a map of “handheld, filled snacks from around the world.”
Paddies and aquaculture go well together. But didn’t we know that already? And wait, synergise is a verb?
Article with interesting-sounding title about the use of IT to monitor wheat diseases has nothing to do with using IT to monitor wheat diseases.
Oh that’s enough for today, I’m just not in the mood. As you might have noticed.
No, wait, I feel better now. Ah, the restorative power of beer and genebanks.
And of chocolate.
Which does not feature among the first three African PGIs.

Today’s new national genebank for food security? Step proudly forward, Rwanda!
Bolivians are eating three times more quinoa. Or maybe three times more Bolivians are eating quinoa.
Growing history in a pre-Columbian English cottage garden.
Bland tomatoes all down to the lack of volatiles.
Daily Kos spreads the Guardian’s gospel of SRI rice; so is aerobic rice a step down that path?
Speaking of which, those Bihari farmers have snagged a world record potato harvest, using organic methods, and a relatively new variety from Indian breeders.

Plantwise says you can manage banana xanthomonas wilt; so no need for GMOs?
DG of Bioversity says “adopt transgenic crops carefully and on a case to case basis”.
“You can contribute to the revision of quinoa descriptors”. Is there one for level of threat to indigenous people?
Poor US farmers. “Despite last year’s drought, net farm income in US … will be highest since 1973.” h/t Tom.
“WIPO Instrument on genetic resources and traditional knowledge should reflect developments in international law and policy relating to indigenous peoples.” Course it should.
“[N]otable gains in dietary diversity and increased child health in hundreds of farm communities of Northern Malawi.” Any causal link?
Roger Leakey talks agroforestry.
Rwanda saves seeds.