Category: Featured

Chris Turnbull explains the funding of the new home of the International Cocoa Quarantine Centre at the University of Reading:

As you point out, the cocoa quarantine facility at the University of Reading has actually been running for about 30 years, supported by the UK chocolate and cocoa industry, through the Cocoa Research Association (CRA) Ltd., with equal funding coming from the USDA Agricultural Research Service since 2007. The move to the new and improved facilities was supported by the University in order to safeguard this important resource as part of the redevelopment of the old site.

Many thanks for the clarification. Great to see University funding going to this important component of the global system of cacao genetic diversity conservation and use.

Anne Vezina pushes back:

But there are funds for the GM banana. Should the project be stopped? What kind of reasons would warrant taking such a step?

Value for money, perhaps? Have your say!

Lieven Claessens resolves the Great Millet Mystery:

In GYGA we use HarvestChoice’s SPAM crop distribution masks for our analysis. SPAM in turn uses FAO statistics to create spatially disaggregated maps of crop distribution. I looked in more detail to the FAOstat numbers and found out that their numbers for ‘millet’ are actually for all sorts of millets combined… So finger and pearl millet are combined, even with teff to my big surprise! Identity crisis? ;-) In GYGA we have used a generic model for both pearl and finger millet so they are combined in the analysis….

Bottom line: the GYGA results for “millet” are unusable. But it’s FAO’s fault.

John Mulumba of NARO, Uganda weighs in on that millet controversy:

Sorry to join in this late. Uganda certainly produces far more finger millet than pearl millet. The second map therefore gives a picture close to what is on ground.

Any other views on this?

Bill W. thinks that Ethiopian farmers should derive some benefit from taking care of tef for all these millennia:

I must admit that I don’t know anything about the quinoa trade, but it seems counter-intuitive that I am supposed to be relieved that the farmers who grew tef until the rest of the world noticed it will not benefit economically from their stewardship. It’s a crazy world.

And if you’re into plant breeding, do visit his site.