Category: Featured

Kanin the Apple Guy speaks:

I guess for me, the old cultivars hold historical significance but also have meaning beyond seedling trees because they were found to be valuable in the past. Rediscovering cultivars in abandoned orchards, experiencing their unique flavors, and speculating on their past utility contribute to the allure to these fruits…

Kanin is the lead author on that “Lost Apples Found” paper, and he has other good reasons too for conserving apple diversity as apples not genes.

Peter Matthews likes Jacob’s idea about seeds on Coke cans, but is worried about niche differentiation:

Does Pepsi occupy a different ecological niche in Africa? We need to know the distribution densities of competing players in the African market. Would it be worthwhile to consider bottled water distribution as well, to reach urban farmers and gardeners?

Forget dropping seeds from planes to breed for the future. Jacob has a better idea:

In the future, I think much breeding should be crowdsourced to farmers.
Forget about Fisherian statistics, “stability” (without reference to the environmental conditions themselves!) and that kind of nonsense.

This is my recipe:

Step 1. Stick two little bags of crop seeds with unique codes on every bottle of Coke in Africa.

Want the details? Read on!

Robert is not convinced by Dave Wood:

David, or anyone else out there, can you say more about “the really vast data base from up to 50 years of multi-locational trials carried out as a matter of course by CGIAR institutes. “? There is some data (for about 10 years) on the CIMMYT website for wheat and maize. It is a bit difficult to understand and access; but it is something. What about the other crops and centers?

Well? The ball is now officially in Dave’s court.

Dave Wood says lets not rush into breeding for climate change:

There are three distinct existing resources we can tap.
The first is the ability of crops to thrive after long-distance introduction. …
The second resource is the really vast data base from up to 50 years of multi-locational trials carried out as a matter of course by CGIAR institutes. …
The third resource is climate-matching. …

You need to read his examples. And when you have, you may find you agree. Or not.