- Worldwide core collections of tea (Camellia sinensis) based on SSR markers. From 788 to 192 doesn’t seem like a great deal.
- Crop Domestication in the Amazon. The first arrivals were not just hunter-gatherers.
- Plant genetic resources and traditional knowledge on medicinal use of wild shrub and herbaceous plant species in the Etna Regional Park (Eastern Sicily, Italy). 71 wild species are used for medicine, but the properties of most are known by only a few informants.
- Traditional knowledge on wild edible plants as livelihood food in Odisha, India. 86 wild species are eaten. No word on the pattern of distribution of knowledge, at least in the abstract.
- Insects in the human food chain: global status and opportunities. The real potential is in animal feed production.
- Energy crops: Prospects in the context of sustainable agriculture. They have a role in Europe to reduce effects of climate change while supporting food security and preserving the environment, but most are in early stages of domestication, and we’ll need more efficient enzymatic systems for the conversion of cellulose, and the development of multiple products.
- Are there systematic gender differences in the adoption of sustainable agricultural intensification practices? Evidence from Kenya. Not for improved seeds, apparently.
- A contemporary decennial global Landsat sample of changing agricultural field sizes. Nine hotspots of field size change, driven by different factors, and not all in same direction. I wonder if you can use this as a proxy for levels of agricultural biodiversity?
- Genome-wide characterization of genetic diversity and population structure in Secale. Limited diversity in improved material, and no structure. Need those genebanks.
- Comparison of the culture performance and profitability of wild-caught and captive pond-reared Chinese mitten crab (Eriocheir sinensis) juveniles reared in grow-out ponds: Implications for seed selection and genetic selection programs. Wild is best. For now.
Brainfood: Goat diversity, Sheep diversity, Camel keeping, Weird Zambian cattle, Pepper diversity, Strawberry diversity, Breeding wheat, Sustainable cacao, Food supply diversity
- The characterization of goat genetic diversity: Towards a genomic approach. A single Neolithic origin.
- Genome-wide patterns of adaptation to climate-mediated selective pressures in sheep. Adaptation to local climates has been important.
- Characterisation of camel breeding practices in the Ansongo Region, Mali. Diversity of practices, diversity of breeds.
- Gynomimicry in the Dwarf Gwembe breed from Zambia. The males mimic the secondary sexual characters of females, presumably because they’ve been selected to do so.
- Evaluation of a diverse, worldwide collection of wild, cultivated and landrace peppers (Capsicum annuum) for resistance to Phytophthora fruit rot, genetic diversity and population structure. No completely resistant lines out of 177, 2 pretty good ones, the better ones confined to 2 of 4 genetic clusters.
- Evaluation of strawberry (Fragaria L.) genetic resources on resistance to Botrytis cinerea. Out of 107 accessions in the German national genebank, 5 were pretty good, 4 of them F. vesca.
- Redesigning the exploitation of wheat genetic resources. Allele mining is out, genome-wide selection is in.
- Making biodiversity-friendly cocoa pay: combining yield, certification and REDD for shade management. Even if you increase yields by 50%, that may not be enough to stop farmers converting from traditional agroforestry. Enter ecolabelling and REDD.
- Measuring nutritional diversity of national food supplies. Production diversity is a good predictor of dietary diversity, but only for low income countries; otherwise income and trade are better. Dietary diversity associated with key health outcomes.
Nibbles: Palms, Walnuts, Gardening game, Measuring biodiversity, Promoting biodiversity, Restoring land, Honeybee evolutions, Amaranth recipes, Cider communication
- Someone you know might need to know the difference between a coconut palm and an oil palm.
- Or between English walnuts and French walnuts (and much more besides).
- Is an interactive game really the best way for children to learn about organic gardening?
- Canadian Cattlemen magazine shares a woman scientist’s deep insights into measuring biodiversity.
- And Indian priests used Konnsanchem fest to urge the revival of agrobiodiversity.
- Other Indians are restoring their land by getting rid of an interloper crop.
- DNA suggests a new ancestral home for the honeybee.
- Now I know what to do with the amaranth blocking every pavement in Rome: how to cook this prolific leafy green.
- Nominally about cider and apples, Pete Brown downs Strongbow’s communications in a few quick drafts.
Genetic Resources for Climate Change: room for optimism?
Dr Hannah Jaenicke, one of the organizers of last week’s 4th International Symposium on Plant Genetic Resources: Genetic Resources for Climate Change last week, kindly sent in this summary of the proceedings from Brisbane. Many thanks to her and all our moles at IHC2014 who have also contributed over the past week.
The symposium was held during the 29th International Horticultural Congress in Brisbane, Australia 18-22 August 2014. There were 18 posters and 32 oral presentations given across the three themes “Utilization of plant genetic resources”, “Germplasm conservation strategies and technologies” and “Harnessing the diversity of crop wild relatives”. Each theme was introduced by a cross-cutting keynote presentation. In addition, there were two workshops during which participants had the opportunity to discuss additional issues: a workshop on “Global conservation strategies for horticultural crops” was held on Monday 18th August with panelists from the Global Crop Diversity Trust, USDA and ACIAR and a workshop on “Strengthening informal seed systems: integrating plant genetic resources conservation within a larger development” was held on Thursday 20 August with panelists representing the private seed/nursery industry and community seed banks. This workshop was held together with the scheduled workshop on “Quality planting material” (convener: Sisir Mitra).
The quality of the posters and presentations throughout the symposium was very high and discussion with the participants was lively, despite the time and logistics constraints posed by the tight schedule of the Congress, with up to 20 parallel sessions. Despite this competition, the symposium and workshops attracted a good attendance of 30-60 participants in each session, estimated at around 200 individuals overall who participated in the symposium.
The presented activities ranged across the world, with a particular focus on the Pacific, Asia and Africa where the effects of climate change are likely to be most severe. Useful examples were provided, from successful rehabilitation activities after a typhoon, to suggestions for more climate-ready genetic resources, to technologies able to provide vital information to genebank managers and breeders to support future plant improvement. Efforts are being made to increase the genetic diversity of particularly vulnerable resources like root and tuber crops in the Pacific and to establish novel markets to increase interest in more diverse production systems. Important tools are regional and international genebanks, such as that of CePaCT, run by SPC, serving the Pacific Island countries with a particular focus on providing virus-free planting material of important vegetatively propagated root and tuber crops, and that of AVRDC, with a global mandate for vegetables, where research is underway for example on heat-tolerant tomato varieties. For commercially important genetic resources, such as Citrus, increased global networking was suggested. In addition to the important role of public and private genebanks, the increasingly recognized role of farmers as custodians of genetic resources and repositories for future genetic improvement was discussed in several papers.
Whilst the challenges that climate change will pose are huge, especially for vulnerable communities and ecosystems, the presentations during this symposium showed that already significant efforts are being taken to address the issue at the level of plant genetic resources. However, more coordinated and collective efforts are needed for more sustainable and focused impact.
Strategizing about conservation of horticultural crops
Another report from one of our correspondents at the International Horticultural Congress:
There were some great discussions during the IHC’s workshop on global conservation strategies for horticultural crops. Few of these exist, and even fewer have actively been implemented. The participants heard from several speakers about the state of development and implementation of the strategies on citrus, strawberry, apple and banana. It appears that the banana strategy, which is currently already in its first revision, is the furthest along the road of implementation — largely thanks to the support of MusaNet. Having the backing of the conservation and use community of a particular crop is key for the development and success of a strategy — and it helps if the community is already organized in some shape or form. The fact that many horticultural fruit crops are not on Annex 1 of the ITPGRFA can really hamper the development and implementation process of global conservation strategies (in fact, so far there are no global conservation strategies for crops which are not on Annex 1) and several participants felt that horticultural crops deserve more recognition under the Treaty.