Forests & trees

January 9, 2014

Nibbles: Pig evolution, Genomics field guide, Genome editing, Chilean agroecology training, Oxford Farming Conferences, Grape variety database, Food prices database, Amazonian history, Debunking tomatoes, INFOODS NUS list, Coptic gardens, Aid agencies map

The catching up continues:

“Genomics is a powerful tool…”: Pigs speciate, admix, fly.
But in the wrong hands…
I wonder which types of hands these genome editors have.
Ok, enough of that. Women, agroecology, capacity building, a fashionable country: what’s not to like?
I wonder if any of the ladies are at the Oxford Real Farming Conference. Or were. They were probably NOT at the Oxford Farming Conference. Oh the wit of these alternative farming types. You could have followed both on Twitter, were you so minded, and less confused than I.
Chile — for it is she — of course grows a lot of grapes. Want to know which varieties? Course you do.
Damn, grapes not included in this World Bank crowd-sourced food price dataset. Which I think we may have linked to before, but what the hell.
I know we’ve linked to ancient Amazonian civilization stuff before, but this is a predictive model, no less.
Busted: The tomato.
The INFOODS “List of underutilized species contributing to the Nutritional Indicators for Biodiversity” is out. Prices not included.
I somehow thought there would be more underutilized species in this Ethiopian monastery.
Who pays for (some of) this? Check out the Guardian’s interactive map of European development agencies.

December 30, 2013January 9, 2014

Brainfood: Chinese heritage sites, Chinese farmer coops, Seasonal foods, Agroforestry markets, Quinoa roadmap, Swedish pseudo-coffee, Barley phylogenetics, Switchgrass diversity, Italian maize composition, European forest vulnerability

Conserving agricultural heritage systems through tourism: Exploration of two mountainous communities in China. Hopes of benefits are high. And will no doubt be cruelly dashed. What all this means for crop diversity is anyone’s guess.
Farmer cooperatives in China: diverse pathways to sustainable rural development. Hopes of benefits are high. And will no doubt be cruelly dashed. What all this means for crop diversity is anyone’s guess.
Seasonality and dietary requirements: will eating seasonal food contribute to health and environmental sustainability? Maybe, but other things are more important.
Collective action to improve market access for smallholder producers of agroforestry products: key lessons learned with insights from Cameroon’s experience. It can work, and it helps if there is fun to be had.
Quinoa biodiversity and sustainability for food security under climate change. A review. We’re going to have to move beyond Quinoa Real. Here comes the model.
Swedish coffee (Astragalus boeticus L.), a neglected coffee substitute with a past and a potential future. It could be revived, and here’s how, but why would anyone want to?
Phylogeny of ten species of the genus Hordeum L. as revealed by AFLP markers and seed storage protein electrophoresis. Breaks down into Old and New World species.
Genetic Structure of Remnant Populations and Cultivars of Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) in the Context of Prairie Conservation and Restoration. Have to be careful using cultivars in the restoration of natural populations. Not because they are lower in diversity than natural populations, but because they are different.
Carotenoids, Phenolic Compounds and Antioxidant Capacity of Five Local Italian Corn (Zea Mays L.). Kernels. Roccacontrada Rosso could be marketed as a functional food. But you lost me at that capital M.
Vulnerability of dynamic genetic conservation units of forest trees in Europe to climate change. By 2100, about half of the species in the conservation units will be at the edge of or outside their climate niche.

December 16, 2013November 29, 2013

Brainfood: Urban diets in Cameroon, Teak diversity in Brazil, Iranian wheat taxonomy, Mexican homegardens, Australian suburban landscapes, Food sovereignty, Sturgeon identification, Malaysian fruit, Amazon deforestation, Food processing & storage

Wild Food, Prices, Diets and Development: Sustainability and Food Security in Urban Cameroon. Local wild foods are better, imported processed foods are cheaper.
Genetic diversity of teak (Tectona grandis L.F.) from different provenances using microsatellite markers. In Brazil, that is. Lower than expected, therefore future breeding programmes should make more use of the most distinct provenances. But what about bringing some new ones in? Too damn difficult?
Taxonomic identity of the Iranian diploid Triticum as evidenced by nrDNA ITS. Splitters were right.
Plant management and biodiversity conservation in Nahuatl homegardens of the Tehuacan Valley, Mexico. Most diverse homegardens located near least diverse natural forest.
Amenity enhancement and biodiversity conservation in Australian suburbia: moving towards maintaining indigenous plants on private residential land. It would need better laws.
Food sovereignty: an alternative paradigm for poverty reduction and biodiversity conservation in Latin America. Economic poverty does not necessarily lead to biodiversity loss. But biodiversity loss does often lead to economic poverty.
Species and hybrid identification of sturgeon caviar: a new molecular approach to detect illegal trade. SNPs can detect the low value, hybrid, aquacultured stuff with great accuracy. In other news, there are sturgeon hybrids.
Malaysian Species of Plants with Edible Fruits or Seeds and Their Valuation. Over 500, of which about half wild.
The impact of commodity price and conservation policy scenarios on deforestation and agricultural land use in a frontier area within the Amazon. Weak enforcement leads to more deforestation. And you need fancy maths to figure that out?
Production and processing of foods as core aspects of nutrition-sensitive agriculture and sustainable diets. It’s no good producing diverse foods if you can’t store and process them.

December 13, 2013December 13, 2013

Nibbles: Banana bionformatics, Banana problems, Dietary diversity indicator, SoD meet, MSSRF & millets, Intercropping tree crops, Ecosystem management, UNEP atlas, Pacific ABS, Seed theft

Data geeks tuck into bananas.
Will it help the Filipino smallholder, though?
Dietary diversity suggested as an indicator of welfare at national level. Wow.
Seeds of Discovery discovers it has made progress.
Celebrating a potato breeder. We should do more of that.
Beer-fueled conservation. Not what you’re thinking.
Milling minor millets means more money.
CIRAD breaks down intercropping rubber. And nutmeg?
Better forest governance by the numbers. How about savannas
Arab region gets an environmental atlas. Also in Google Earth.
The Pacific learns about the ITPGRFA. Not for the first time…
I guess these guys didn’t know about MTAs.

December 10, 2013December 10, 2013

Nibbles: IK, Magi, Yield gap maps, ICRISAT DG, Maize and drought, Phenotyping workshop, Clone epigenetics, Root & tubers, Botanical social networking, Mexican archaeobotany, LOTW

Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services documents examples of how indigenous people’s knowledge conserves biodiversity, including of the agricultural kind.
The truth about frankincense and myrrh. Talk about traditional knowledge.
Can global crop production meet future demands? The Story Map.
What ICRISAT is doing about the above, from the horse’s mouth.
Progress in Achieving and Delivering Drought Tolerance in Maize — An Update: “Germplasm collections are assuming greater importance if gains from native genes are to be sustained. Efficient and accurate field phenotyping remains essential for genetic progress.”
Workshop in Field-based High Throughput Phenotyping. Next April, in Arizona, you maize people.
A clone is a clone is… no wait.
Root and tuber people already planning their next big shindig, in October 2015. Meanwhile, they’re getting down to work in the Pacific.
AoB Blog on plant science on Facebook. Also on Facebook.
Solanum expert Dr Sandy Knapp on the of Global Plants Initiative.
Archaeological remains of agriculture found in Nuevo Leon are oldest for that Mexican state.
Legumes (genera) of the world now online, thanks to Kew.