- Genebank saves beer!
- Not so fast…
- So, lets get back to basics shall we, and the dawn of brewing, recreated (again).
Nibbles: Slow FAO, Nuts, Pan-Hellenism, Dulcamaroids, Agrofroestry, Entrepreneur
- Slow Food and FAO join forces “to develop joint actions to improve the livelihoods of small-scale farmers and others working in rural areas”. What could possibly go wrong?
- Five ways to enjoy a walnut. But not until next harvest (except for 1 and 2)
- A Pan-Hellenic Seed Exchange Festival took place last weekend. Sorry we missed it.
- A revision of the Dulcamaroid Clade of Solanum L. (Solanaceae). Oh boy! Wild relative heaven.
- If you’re in Suffolk, England, on 25 May you could join a study visit about agroforestry. And tell us about it here.
- Fascinating write-up of Ajay Jha, whose “primary objective is to find profitable models for sustainable, nutritious, local urban and small acreage food production”.
Nibbles: Bamboo shoots, Cassava bread, Tomato reefer, Visionary scientists, Price volatility, Potato nutrition, Climate change & biodiversity
- After artichokes and asparagus, bamboo, obviously.
- And after bamboo? Cassava, by any of its many names.
- Botanical confusion: “Good tomatoes are a lot harder to get than good pot.” Not where I come from.
- The Union of Concerned Scientists is concerned about US agriculture.
- Per Pinstrup-Andersen is concerned about food price volatility, not high food prices.
- And Jeremy is concerned that he may not be eating enough potatoes.
- Luigi, for his part, is concerned about the two thirds of common plants that CIAT et al. say could lose 50% of their range by 2080.
Brainfood: Forest restoration, Vegetable diversity, Intensification costs, Community forests, Baja oases, Nigerian foods, European wetlands, Landscape diversity & resilience, European conservation prioritization
- Can Ficus Sp. Forests Be Restored Through Vegetative Propagation? Yes. But with the reduced genetic diversity and all, for how long?
- A qualitative assessment of diversity and factors leading to genetic erosion of vegetables: a case study of Varamin (Iran). Species richness only, settle down. But, pace the title, quantitative.
- Agricultural intensification escalates future conservation costs. Because of higher land rents. Just can’t win.
- Common property protected areas: Community control in forest conservation. They can work.
- Baja California peninsula oases: An agro-biodiversity of isolation and integration. Both too much and too little isolation are bad.
- Cultivated, caught, and collected: defining culturally appropriate foods in Tallé, Niger. …and integrating them into development.
- Wetlands in Europe: Perspectives for restoration of a lost paradise. Down to 20% and counting. Someone should count the crop wild relatives in them.
- Economic Resilience and Land use: The Cocoa Crisis in the Rio Cachoeira Catchment, Brazil. Diverse land use means more resilience.
- Priorities for biodiversity monitoring in Europe: A review of supranational policies and a novel scheme for integrative prioritization. Yeah, but doesn’t integrate crop wild relatives, does it?
Nibbles: GMO promises promises, African livestock outside & in, Vegetables galore, Farmer videos from US & Sri Lanka, Fermentation beery & otherwise, Yam people & traits, Botanic garden diversity, ECPGR, CWR in US & Benin, Herbarium data, Baobab info, Olean info, Pix, Indian cooking
- Nature “celebrates” 30 years of GMOs.
- African pastoralists know how not to destroy their livelihoods shock.
- African urban dwellers keep livestock shock.
- Vegetables can be perennial too. Oh yes indeedy. Not bitter gourd though, alas. Nor cucumber. And in other news, there’s a Bitter Melon Council. And also a campaign to promote zucchini in Iowa.
- Climate change reaches farmers in the Pacific NW. Can their Sri Lankan colleagues be far behind?
- Always good to have a beer story. Well, maybe not.
- Speaking of fermentation, this WSJ piece looks interesting, from the two sentences of it I can read. No, wait. Oh crap, try this.
- A hummus dip goes really nicely with beer. Is this the quinoa story again?
- A yam conference for the ages. Will they discuss the new trait ontology?
- Botanic gardens reach out. Genebanks next? Maybe not.
- You mean like the European ones, perhaps?
- That US CWR paper from the horse’s mouth. And a similar thing from Benin. But where does all that data come from?
- Baobab notes to go with all those factsheets.
- The Saharan olive needs a factsheet too. IRD obliges.
- Cool set of agriculture photos.
- A couple of different views of Indian food. Thanks to Cara de Silva and Diana Buja.