Fruits and nuts

February 8, 2016February 8, 2016

The cider apple rules

I really didn’t give the short piece on the conservation of cider apple varieties in England a second thought when it first came out on the BBC a few days ago.

Hundreds of varieties of rare cider apples are being planted across England after being donated to the National Trust by a collector.
…
They were grown over 25 years by Henry May, who wanted to save old apple varieties in danger of disappearing.

Sure, I shared it, because it’s always nice to see names like Netherton Late Blower and Slack-ma-Girdle make it to prime time, but that’s about it.

I should have paid more attention, and I’m grateful to Julian Jackson for making some good points on LinkedIn.

Nice to see the National Fruit Collection’s image credited — even if their overarching work to support UK apple genetic resources conservation didn’t get a mention!! (The article should have highlighted the complementary role these new gardens could have to the existing cider collection at the National Fruit Collection ¹ rather than suggesting these will be primary resources!!)

Julian looks after the British national germplasm collections for DEFRA, and should know. Here’s hoping these new collections and that at Brogdale get properly integrated.

February 2, 2016February 2, 2016

Nibbles: Solutions edition

No new salinity tolerance in cereals? You need to look at the right thing.
No new crops? Focus on plants’ sex lives.
No hope for drylands? Look to biodiversity.
No new agricultural land? No problem.
No data on neglected Himalayan crops? Got you covered.
No way you’re drinking coffee from civet droppings? Chemistry to the rescue.
No place for the offspring of F1 hybrids in your agriculture? Go apomictic.
No new fruits left to try? Hang in there.
No diversity in your Aragonese homegarden? There’s a genebank for that.
No impact for your agricultural research. Try clusters.
No agroecological patterning to your crop’s genetic diversity? It’s the culture, stupid.

January 26, 2016January 26, 2016

Nibbles: Value edition

Peru to give value to its biodiversity.
Germany already has, 500 years ago.
Cavendish bananas have a lot of value, but that won’t save them.
The UK’s vegetables genebank is very valuable.
But you can always add more value to genebank collections if you evaluate them, like IRRI’s going to do in an expensive new building.
I’m not sure what the value of Gold Rush-era heritage trees might be, but I think it’s really cool that someone’s looking for them.
The value of genetic engineering for drought tolerance is just around the corner.

January 19, 2016January 19, 2016

Givaudan, “a Swiss-based company that is the global leader in the creation of fragrances and flavors” has provided a $1 million endowment towards maintaining the Citrus Variety Collection at the University of California, Riverside. Both that collection and a famous tomato collection are owned and managed by the University of California, and affiliated with the USDA/ARS National Plant Germplasm System, which does not have the flexibility itself to explore unusual funding mechanisms. It’s not clear from the article in URC Today what the cool million buys exactly, but at least part of the proceeds must go on on the Givaudan Citrus Variety Collection Endowed Chair. And Tracy Kahn, curator of the collection, has just been appointed to it. But surely a $1 million endowment can’t cover all the costs of maintaining multiple trees of a thousand different citrus accessions? There must be other revenue streams. Interesting to speculate whether a similar model could cover the costs of a more global effort, such as is being proposed in a recent strategy document.

January 18, 2016January 15, 2016

Brainfood: Barley landrace evaluation, Aceh cattle, Zizania diversity, French apple cores, Vanuatu food security, Tomato genomics, Cacao fermentation, Wild foods, Activist anthropologists, Ancient wheats

Performance of 50 Lebanese barley landraces (Hordeum vulgare L. subsp. vulgare) in two locations under rainfed conditions. 47 individual plants were as good or better than the 2 checks in terms of grain yield per plant.
Phylogenetic analysis of Aceh cattle breed of Indonesia through mitochondrial D-Loop region. A specific haplotype, mainly indicus but with some taurus.
Genetic diversity assessment of in situ and ex situ Texas wild rice (Zizania texana) populations, an endangered plant. Diversity is dynamic in situ, and some of it is missing ex situ.
Genetic Diversity, Population Structure, Parentage Analysis, and Construction of Core Collections in the French Apple Germplasm Based on SSR Markers. 2163 accessions divide into Old Dessert, Old Cider, and Modern Cultivar subgroups.
Community Food Security: Resilience and Vulnerability in Vanuatu. High population pressure associated with shorter fallows but higher yields, not associated with purchasing of imported foodstuffs. Not clear what high crop diversity associated with.
Using genomic repeats for phylogenomics: a case study in wild tomatoes (Solanum section Lycopersicon: Solanaceae). Repetition can be useful.
The cocoa bean fermentation process: from ecosystem analysis to starter culture development. It takes a microbial community.
Wild harvest: distribution and diversity of wild food plants in rice ecosystems of Northeast Thailand. There’s much more to rice than rice.
Free seeds and food sovereignty: anthropology and grassroots agrobiodiversity conservation strategies in the US South. Activist anthropology for better food systems.
Comparative Study of Hulled (Einkorn, Emmer, and Spelt) and Naked Wheats (Durum and Bread Wheat): Agronomic Performance and Quality Traits. Will need to fiddle with classic baking techniques.

Category: Fruits and nuts

The cider apple rules

Nibbles: Solutions edition

Nibbles: Value edition

Citrus is well-endowed

Brainfood: Barley landrace evaluation, Aceh cattle, Zizania diversity, French apple cores, Vanuatu food security, Tomato genomics, Cacao fermentation, Wild foods, Activist anthropologists, Ancient wheats