Forests & trees

Nibbles: Genebanks trifecta, Marley Coffee, Sorghum noodles, Biofortification Q&A, African oils, Cow diversity, Coffee course, Fructose deconstructed, Vanuatu chocolate, Candy bar phylogenies, Japanese copycats, Charger beer

CIP’s genebank in the limelight.
Egypt’s genebank in the limelight.
Australia’s genebank in the limelight. Limelight fast running out…
Ah, but genebanks not the only ones with cool videos: farmers in the limelight.
Yeah, it’s not just about the genebanks. Markets can help, I suppose. Especially if you have a famous name.
As with coffee, so with sorghum. Biofortified or not. All we need now is an agribusiness incubator, and here it is, courtesy of ICRISAT. But what will Japanese farmers think?
Same again for assorted African oils?
The diversity of cows has been driven by markets too.
Coffee 101 at UCDavis. Maybe they’ll invite Mr Marley to teach.
You want fructose in that coffee? No, probably not.
Maybe you prefer chocolate. From Vanuatu, natch. Looks like high quality stuff too, but even crap chocolate has its uses, like teaching taxonomy for instance.
No, you’re more a Japanese bourbon person, aren’t you? Wait, do you need barley for that? I’m sure those young Japanese farmers will be all over this.

Lots to catch up on, strap yourselves in.
The South’s original peanut is the Carolina African runner, and it is in need of help.
Saudi Aramco World does its usual class number, this time on chili peppers. And, in a similar vein, more than you probably want to know about Tabasco sauce.
The evolution of DNA sequencing. In 76 slides, no less, but worth it.
Japanese rice grown in Uruguay for U.S. hipsters. Gotta love globalization.
Sustainable salmon at long last?
Mind the gender gap.
Latest modelling suggests 2% crop yield decline per decade, assuming modest 2 degree C rise in temperatures by 2050. The original paper. We are so screwed. (Well, Uruguayan rice growers and U.S. hipsters aren’t, not so much.) No, really. No, wait…
You know, if we need supercomputers to tell us that forest corridors are good for seed dispersal, it’s no wonder we can’t stop global warming. Just kidding, I think it’s great that supercomputers get a break from climate models every once in a while. Oh, and isolated trees not entirely useless either.
Native wild bumblebees also in trouble, not just honeybees.
So did you miss us? Even more tomorrow to clear the decks.

Former CIFOR DG interviewed about Global Forest Watch and more. I would have asked why you can’t import your own data or share a map you make.
A particularly important place to watch the forest is Honduras, because deforestation there is correlated with cocaine trafficking.
Not clear from this World Bank piece if deforestation in PNG associated with cultivation of another drug, i.e. coffee.
Better bananas would be good for forests, wouldn’t they?
Bah, just let them have corridors, they’ll be fine.
And don’t forget to eat the forest bugs.
Ok, I can’t figure out how to fit the history of potato breeding into this narrative. Any of it organic, though?

Brazil revises its National Biodiversity and Action Plan and wants to mainstream biodiversity and nutrition.
That’s a really old cheese.
Are you conducting projects testing how the presence of trees affects food production and natural resource management? CIFOR would like to hear from you.
ICRISAT super-chickpea takes over India.
And CIAT amylose-free starch cassava to take over Brazil. China next?
Red Stripe to use cassava. Jamaica? No, they really did want to make cassava beer. Well, come on, things are peachy with cassava bread, why not beer?