- A North Macedonian professor’s 15-year rescue mission for landraces and crops surviving only in remote villages. Why bother? Stay tuned…
- Ancient grapevines in Tigray represent a unique genetic lineage with potential value for breeding varieties adapted to dryland conditions.
- Hawai’i Public Radio checks in on Maui’s coconut genebank. Useful to breed varieties adapted to really wet conditions, presumably.
- The Cayman Islands are also hoarding coconuts, along with lots of tasty fruits.
- A USD 400,000 boost from Taiwan for the Eswatini national genebank. Indigenous vegetables get much-needed love.
- A regional survey of 25 orphan crops across 13 Latin American countries finds quinoa and amaranth well-catalogued, but characterization budgets are the real bottleneck. Collecting and conserving in genebanks is great, but not enough.
- South Korea puts 330,000 seed accessions under “double lock”, hedging against both climate change and war. Conserving in one place is not enough.
- FAO warns that nearly a third of the world can’t afford the USD 4.28 a day that a healthy diet costs — nearly three billion people, and rising. That’s why we need al the above, I guess.
Nibbles: Apple-banana paradox, Genebanks, Indian wheat, Indian wild rice, Kenya community seed banks, Wild coffee, Macadamia history, Taro research, Cacti
- Why the modern food system prizes uniformity even though resilience depends on diversity. Spoiler alert: follow the money.
- Historic crop varieties are finding renewed relevance as farmers contend with more volatile weather, emerging pests and changing markets. Let’s hope there’s money to conserve them.
- India’s traditional wheat varieties contain diversity that could help breeders develop crops better able to withstand heat and drought. Let’s hope there’s money to conserve them.
- India announces significant progress in conserving its wild rice genetic resources. Great that there was money to conserve them.
- Community seed banks across Kenya are calling for formal recognition and sustained support, arguing that locally managed collections strengthen seed sovereignty, preserve traditional varieties and help farming communities adapt to climate change. Yes, but are they enough without national genebanks?
- Researchers are racing to conserve wild coffee species whose genetic diversity may provide the resistance and resilience needed to secure tomorrow’s morning cup. Is the industry contributing, though ?
- New history of the macadamia traces its remarkable journey from Australia’s native forests to a global crop, while underscoring why conserving the remaining wild populations is essential for the crop’s long-term future.
- Researchers at the University of the South Pacific investigate how taro can withstand climate change, combining research with conservation to help protect one of the region’s most culturally and nutritionally important staple crops.
- Chester Zoo collects seeds from highly threatened cacti, because why not?
Nibbles: Kenyan crops, Omani mangoes, Wheat mixtures, Wagyu origins
- Kenyan farmers are rediscovering indigenous crops.
- Oman discovers it has lots of mango diversity, and moves to conserve it.
- Swedish student discovering varietal mixtures.
- Discover how a locally adapted cattle population in Japan became a globally recognized premium brand by maintaining distinctive genetic and breeding characteristics. Lessons there for all of the above perhaps?
Nibbles: Johnny Appleseed, ICRAF genebanks, China lychee genebank, Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute, Saudi tree genebanks, European genebank data, Pricing nature
- Johnny Appleseed basically set up fruit tree genebanks 200 years ago.
- Modern fruit tree genebanks could probably learn something from Mr Appleseed.
- Is there a Mr Lycheeseed, I wonder?
- There are probably some fruit tree collections at the Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute.
- Saudi Arabia is betting on tree genebanks. Maybe even fruit tree genebanks.
- All genebanks need to share their data, according to the guy in charge of helping European genebanks share their data.
- Can you put a value on genebanks? Should you?
The wild bunch
Never rains but it pours. Along very similar lines as the previous post on a fun effort to document people’s favourite breadfruit varieties, here comes the FruitDev project’s Wild Fruit Population of the Month.
Each month, the series highlights one (or more) populations identified by a FRUITDIV partner, illustrating how field exploration, local knowledge, and cross-partner collaboration contribute to a better understanding of wild fruit genetic resources.
By focusing on individual populations, the series aims to make visible the often-overlooked genetic diversity found in natural and semi-natural landscapes, many of which are shaped by environmental pressures such as drought, poor soils, or past disturbances. These populations represent valuable reservoirs of adaptive traits that are increasingly relevant for resilience, conservation, and future breeding strategies.
This month’s featured population is a dwarf almond from North Macedonia. Nice idea.
