Forests & trees

September 8, 2015September 8, 2015

The right tree in the right place

Much excitement at the World Forestry Congress yesterday over the launch of the World Agroforestry Center’s fancy-shmanzy new app.

New app 4 identifying+selecting the right tree launched today! Try it. http://t.co/kLUCvjFJAN #Forests2015 pic.twitter.com/mPq4EG7lpw

— CIFOR-ICRAF (@CIFOR_ICRAF) September 7, 2015

Long story short, it’s version 2 of a potential natural vegetation map of eastern and southern Africa. ¹ You can consult it in a browser, including on mobile devices, in Google Earth, or in your own GIS. Once you know where you are, or where you’d like to grown some trees anyway, you can get an idea of the natural vegetation there, and of what species might do well, for a variety of different purposes (honey production, say, or firewood).

map_screenshot2

Once you’ve selected a likely tree, you can get more information on it from ICRAF’s Agroforestry Species Dashboard. It’ll need a bit more road-testing than I have time for just at the moment, but it looks promising at first blush. One immediate reaction I do have is that it’s not possible to look for species that fulfil multiple functions: honey production and firewood, in other words. But I may be doing the thing an injustice.

September 7, 2015

Nibbles: Heirlooms, Tomato history, Appleseed myths, Not The Onion, Healthy spuds, Promoting bamboo, His Billness on sub1

It’s the edible memories, stupid!
Even when the memories are poisonous.
Johnny Appleseed knew a thing or two about edible memories.
Onions are more than memories to Indian politicians.
Colorful potatoes are not only edible, they could be medicinal memories.
Bamboo and rattan want to be more than just memories.
Scuba rice is much more than a memory.

August 31, 2015September 4, 2015

Brainfood: Endophytes, Diet data, Nutrition & agriculture, Japanese Rubus, Hybrid conservation, Iranian cattle, Fat hen complications, Himalayan agroforestry, Gathering moss

Diazotrophic Endophytes of Poplar and Willow for Growth Promotion of Rice Plants in Nitrogen-Limited Conditions. No doubt this will be touted as The Next Big Thing.
Assessing global dietary habits: a comparison of national estimates from the FAO and the Global Dietary Database. FAO overestimates grains and vegetables, underestimates beans and nuts.
Nutrition-sensitive agriculture and the promotion of food and nutrition sovereignty and security in Brazil. Experience suggests that interventions need to be “intersectoral, decentralized and framed in order to allow for institutional coordination.”
Assessment of genetic relationships among cultivated and wild Rubus accessions using AFLP markers. 15 species and some hybrids between them in Japan.
Characteristics for evaluating the conservation value of species hybrids. And some of those hybrids may need conserving too.
Prioritization for conservation of Iranian native cattle breeds based on genome-wide SNP data. Some of the breeds are in trouble.
The taxonomic riddle of Chenopodium album L. complex (Amaranthaceae). Three ploidy levels and lots of variation in a wild-weedy-domesticated vegetable complex.
Does agroforestry conserve trees? A comparison of tree species diversity between farmland and forest in mid-hills of central Himalaya. It can be a complement, but never a substitute, for protected areas.
Sphagnum farming: the promised land for peat bog species? Yes, but do it on degraded peatland, and with long rotation cycles.

August 18, 2015August 18, 2015

Nibbles: Plant names, Tomato trifecta, Amaranth, Corn wars, Wild lettuce, Dying, Indian ag, Chocographic, Root symbionts, Rehabilitation, Mesquite, Extreme weather, Saviour plants, Pawpaw, Japanese rice, Coffee museum, Caribbean early ag, Amazonian livelihoods, Vislak on corn

In praise of common names. Meh. You won’t see a Latin name in this whole Nibbles. See how you like it.
Building a tomato. In Spanish.
Tracking a tomato.
The dark side of tomatoes.
Amaranth to rescue Mexicans from obesity.
Seeds of contention.
Finding the lost Least Lettuce.
Indigo goes back to the future.
What if the monsoon fails? MS Swaminathan has some answers.
Nice chocolate infographic from FAO.
A diverse microbial community in and around roots helps plants thrive. The Science article is behind a paywall, but there’s a helpful infographic on Twitter.
The US has a National Seed Strategy for Rehabilitation and Restoration. Vision? The right seed in the right place at the right time. Wish I’d thought of that.
When otherwise useful trees attack. Ah, the irony of this coming right after the previous one.
UK’s Global Food Security programme says extreme weather events are increasing and we must adapt agriculture. Good to know.
And today’s Five Plants That Will Save the World are…
Maybe add pawpaw to that?
Japanese rice farmers: change gonna come.
Nice coffee museum in Brazil.
Early agriculture in the Caribbean: Cuba and Trinidad.
The babaçu breakers of Maranhão are under threat. What’s babaçu? Yeah, well, look it up.
“Seed banking began about 30 years ago as an improvement to individual farmers storing and using their own seeds.” Riiiiight.
That Vilsak is a card.

August 4, 2015August 4, 2015

Nibbles: Summer holidays, Tajik bread, Farm to pizza, Västerbottensost, Diverse bananas, Banana wine, Chinese agroforestry, Peak coffee, Responsible oil palm, Model chickens, Damn you NS

Ah, summer and its funny medieval holidays.
Making bread in Tajikistan.
Making pizza in Sussex.
Making cheese in (one village in) Sweden.
Diversifying bananas in Queensland.
Diversifying banana products in Kenya.
Diversifying with trees in China.
Better diversify coffee.
I see your responsible soy and raise you responsible oil palm.
Cocks of the walk.
I’m so annoyed the New Scientist article on breeding less bitter veggies is behind a paywall that I won’t even link to it. Google it, if you must.