Forests & trees

June 3, 2011

Fear not, teachers of FGR, help is at hand!

In response to increasing demand for capacity building on forest genetic resources (FGR), Bioversity has just launched a training manual for forestry practitioners, lecturers, trainers and students to increase understanding of how to manage diverse and complex forest and other tree based ecosystems sustainably. It can be used for teaching and learning about FGR issues both in formal education and on-the-job training.

So we are told, and so we believe, and we’re more than happy to spread the word. The training materials include, among other things, videos on Youtube (see below), and PowerPoint presentations on Slideshare. All that’s missing is a Facebook page and a wiki and the Web 2.0 makeover will be complete. Happy learning — and teaching!

May 31, 2011May 31, 2011

Nibbles: Date palm sex, Heirlooms congress, World Camel Day, Latino livestock, Coconut craft, Hybridizing Alocasia, Sami reindeer, Serbian agri-environments, Honey, Feidherbia

Qataris work out how to sex date palms.
The National Heirloom Exposition revs its engine.
World Camel Day is coming up. No, really.
Latin Americans planning their next congress on the biodiversity of domestic animals. Cuy, anyone?
The Art of Coconut Craft. Wonderfully kitschy.
So, you want to breed Alocasia, do you?
Sweden stops oppressing its main minority.
High Nature Value farming in Serbia.
Non-wood forest products are all very well, but…
Yes, yes, Feidherbia will solve all the problems of the Sahel, now can I go back to sleep?

May 30, 2011May 31, 2011

Brainfood: Cabbages, Crops in Darfur, Sowing dates, People and biodiversity, Honeybees, Rhizobium, Figs, Urban ag, Wild olives, Ancient textiles, Ducks, Wheat introgression, Food citizenship, Crop models, Trifolium, Variety choice

Genetic diversity of Brassica oleracea var. capitata gene bank accessions assessed by AFLP. Czech genebank; subgroups reflected place of origin.
Optimizing the cropping mix in North Darfur State, Sudan. A study of Umkdada district. “…the results of the model were different from the real practices of the farmers.” Oh dear. To improve the fit, schoolboys should work in the fields more. And crops should fetch more. The dismal science indeed.
Climate-driven simulation of global crop sowing dates. Ok, this model works. You can predict sowing dates under rainfed conditions for various annual crops from climatic conditions. Not entirely sure why you would want to, though.
Exploring some of the myths of land use change: Can rural to urban migration drive declines in biodiversity? Yes, counter-intuitively, at least in the forests of Mexico’s southwestern highlands. More from Conservation Magazine.
Pollination services in the UK: How important are honeybees? Quite a bit, but maybe not as much as previously thought. It’s the wild bees, stupid!
Genetic diversity and symbiotic effectiveness of rhizobia isolated from root nodules of Phaseolus vulgaris L. grown in soils of Iran. It is high, and it varies, respectively.
Interspecific hybridization of fig (Ficus carica L.) and Ficus erecta Thunb., a source of Ceratocystis canker resistance. It’s a breakthrough!
Exploring the diversity of urban and peri-urban agricultural systems in Sudano-Sahelian West Africa: An attempt towards a regional typology. There are 6 types. Not 5; not 7. On this one, the journey is more interesting than the destination.
Variability of wild olives (Olea europaea subsp. europaea var. sylvestris) analyzed by agro-morphological traits and SSR markers. There’s a lot of variabzzzzzzzzzz…
Hemp in ancient rope and fabric from the Christmas Cave in Israel: Talmudic background and DNA sequence identification. Mainly flax, but some hemp, from both Roman and Chalcolithic periods. But can you smoke it?
Modelling the distribution of domestic ducks in Monsoon Asia. Low resolution data, plus fancy modelling, can be used to get pretty good high resolution predictions.
Gene flow between wheat and wild relatives: empirical evidence from Aegilops geniculata, Ae. neglecta and Ae. triuncialis. It happens, a lot.
Toward food system sustainability through school food system change: Think&EatGreen@School and the making of a community-university research alliance. Food citizenship?
Simulation of winter wheat yield and its variability in different climates of Europe: A comparison of eight crop growth models. Big differences among models, so best thing to do is to use the mean of all of them.
The potential of plant viruses to promote genotypic diversity via genotype × environment interactions. The negative effect of White Clover Mosaic Virus (WCMV) infection on performance differs from white clover genotype to genotypes, which means differential selection, which means negative frequency-dependent selection in host populations, which means diversity. Via.
Amplifying the benefits of agroecology by using the right cultivars. Why should we summarize, when an author has already done so?

May 29, 2011May 30, 2011

Nibbles: Kew, Chickens, Sorghum, Romanian agriculture, Conferences, Tree conservation

Kew video asks: Why does plant diversity matter? Not to feed people, obviously.
An entire blog dedicated to the Origin of the Domestic Fowl! Wonder where he stands on the chickens of Chile?
Benefits of beer sorghum in eastern Kenya.
Traditional agriculture protects amphibians in Romania shock.
Seeds for a sustainable future. Conference organized by European Greens for 31 May. Not much notice, I know.
And another one, on geographical indications, in June.
How to develop a genetic conservation strategy to safeguard an endangered tree species. Learning module from Bioversity International.

May 27, 2011October 8, 2011

Nibbles: Genebank, Sweet wheat, Participatory Research, Land “grab”, Yampah, Vegetables, Tea, Chilling, Rainforest products, Asses, Climate proofing, Natural products

A look inside the big USDA genebank at Fort Collins. Whatever next?
Sweet wheat. Whatever next?
Farmers must participate in agricultural research in Europe. Whatever next?
“Come and farm our virgin lands, Ethiopia tells India.” Whatever.
“You may already know that yampah (Perideridia gairdneri) is a North American umbellifer.” Er, no. Tell me more.
After cloves, vegetables? Zanzibar’s farmers increase productivity.
More news for Luigi’s MIL: Future Climate Scenarios for Kenya’s Tea Growing Areas.
Is this the end of trail mix?
Body Shop uses wins award for using Cameroonian rainforest honey and wax from CIFOR-supported beekeeping project.
Fancy a glass of ass’s milk? Totally SFW.
Everybody is climate-proofing crops.
The BBC looks at medicinal plants.