- Your regular reminder that breadfruit could be used a lot more.
- Your regular reminder that cryo could be used a lot more in conservation.
- Your regular reminder that Indigenous knowledge could be used a lot more.
- Your regular reminder that the Svalbard Global Seed Vault could be used a lot more.
- Your regular reminder that climate change is getting personal.
- Your regular reminder that ancient people weren’t stupid. At all.
- Your regular reminder that invasive species are a big problem.
Brainfood: Landrace gaps, Musa gaps, Teff use, Wheat evolution, NUS services, Phenotyping, Harappan residues, Food trade
- State of ex situ conservation of landrace groups of 25 major crops. Two thirds done, on average, at least by this measure, with these data.
- Phylogeography and conservation gaps of Musa balbisiana Colla genetic diversity revealed by microsatellite markers. But of course there are always other ways of doing it.
- Value of teff (Eragrostis tef) genetic resources to support breeding for conventional and smallholder farming: a review. An example of why doing the above for all crops is important.
- Evolution and origin of bread wheat. Another example. But the B genome remains elusive.
- Diversity and Diversification: Ecosystem Services Derived From Underutilized Crops and Their Co-benefits for Sustainable Agricultural Landscapes and Resilient Food Systems in Africa. So many services. And yet…
- Crop phenotyping in a context of global change: What to measure and how to do it. So many toys.
- Integrating Lipid and Starch Grain Analyses From Pottery Vessels to Explore Prehistoric Foodways in Northern Gujarat, India. And more toys. They made biodiverse stews in the Indus Valley Civilization.
- International food trade benefits biodiversity and food security in low-income countries. Low-income, very biodiverse countries are importing more food, which is somehow good for biodiversity. No word on its effect on agrobiodiversity.
Nibbles: New Indian genebank, Bremji Kul conservation, Ugandan cassava, Chicago heirloom tomato guy, Malawi root & tuber value chains, Wild harvested plants report, Indigenous oyster harvesting, The Recipes Project
- Maharashtra to set up a genebank, but definitely NOT the nation’s first.
- Meanwhile, in Kashmir…
- Let them eat cassava cake.
- Minor roots and tubers not so minor in Malawi. Cassava unavailable for comment.
- Area man shares heirloom tomatoes. Not many people hurt.
- How to make the most, sustainably, of 12 wild-harvested plant species. According to FAO.
- Indigenous peoples have been harvesting oysters sustainably for millennia.
- The wonderful Plant Humanities Initiative does recipes.
Nibbles: Oz genebanks, Turkish heirlooms, Indian heirlooms, Peruvian cryobank, Chinese cryobank, Seeds for farmers, Gamma gardens, Bees, DSI, Seville cathedral, Food & climate change
- Australian politicians promise genebank. World holds its breath.
- Meanwhile, in Turkey…
- … and India…
- …and Peru…
- …and China.
- Another way of getting seeds to farmers.
- What, even irradiated ones?
- But don’t forget the bees.
- Hopefully DIS won’t scupper all this sharing.
- Because although our foods are not set in stone…
- …we’ll need more than changes in habits to adapt agriculture to climate change.
Nibbles: American single malt, Gauguin’s coconut, World Seed Congress, Red gold, Kunming
- Will American single malt whiskey be a thing? Depends on the American barley.
- Is the fruit in Paul Gauguin’s Eü haere ia oe (Woman Holding a Fruit) a coconut? Have your say.
- Will the World Seed Congress sow a brilliant future? We shall see.
- Is the oil palm over in West Africa? Depends.
- Where are we with that post-2020 biodiversity deal? Nowhere much yet.