Category: Featured

Dave Wood comments on UG99 myths, and then adds, perhaps provocatively, that

The current fashion for the on-farm conservation of crop diversity ignores the inevitable conservation of diverse plant diseases, some of which, like Ug99 of wheat, can cross continents on the wind and threaten crop production globally.

“Ignores” may be a bit strong here. Is not (one of the) explicit point(s) of on-farm conservation to allow continued co-evolution of crop and pest? On-farmers, over to you!

Patience partially pays; Bob answers Luigi’s year-old “what the heck is it?”

The word is Zulu, but also is also anglicized as Madumbe as in Zulu the “A” is almost silent. The plant is a Taro species grown in Natal and Eastern Cape in South Africa and looks more like the common Arum than the tropical Taro, the corm looks like the Arum corm. Just boiled it is delicious, unlike the Taro which is rather bland.

What we really want (obviously) is a binomial. Anyone?

Our friend Yurie makes sense of that Japanese video:

2 comedians visit Iwanaga-san to find out about research on agriculture that he’s working on. Iwanaga-san suggests that they would have a discussion (debate/battle) on the importance of agricultural biodiversity.

Dirk Enneking takes Luigi to task:

What is wrong with repatriating germplasm? Isn’t your argument questioning the role of national genebanks and genetic sovereignty? Is Rome reviving its old rivalry with Carthage?

Let the games begin!

Jacob offers Luigi an explanation for Tunisia’s misplaced pride:

Seeds are being used as gifts to shape new social networks, the anthropologist in me guesses. Creating social capital, isn’t that worthy of praise?