Clearly, I need to learn to stay on things at least a beat longer. Watching this made me seasick, and I knew what was coming. Anyway, the display is in FAO’s Flag Room. The posters (and accompanying fact sheets) are from FAO’s Nutrition and Consumer Protection Division and cite the Hortivar Database, which is a new one one me. And no, baobab wasn’t there.
Nibbles: Bioinformatics, Extension, Apples, Potatoes, Research, Cacao genebank, Cassava hope, Rice and Striga
- Bioinformatics for Dummies. Not that anyone I know needs it.
- Are there simpler ways to close the yield gaps in developing countries? Indeed, there are, but they’re not very sexy.
- And speaking of low-hanging fruit: How the apple took over the planet.
- Tuber diversity. Miss Hathorn is showing off the progeny of some true potato seed. And by true, I also mean truly potato.
- USDA ARS ♥ CGIAR ♥ USDA ARS
- And Trinidad & Tobago ♥ CFC, ICCO and Bioversity.
- Nigeria pins green revolution hopes on cassava. Is it ever a good idea to pin your hopes on just one thing?
- NERICA’s Striga problem deconstructed.
Nibbles: Bourdeix, Early ag, Amaranthus in beer
- Dr Roland Bourdeix is the new COGENT Coordinator.
- Early American hunter-gatherers ate maize.
- Dogfish Head crowdsources a new beer. And it’s got NUS. Rejoice.
The pomegranate in Armenia
The pomegranate is everywhere in Armenia. And I don’t mean just in the markets. A famous film is named after the fruit. Tea and wine are made from it. And its image features on everything from church walls to tourist souvenirs. I suppose it goes back to pre-Christian mythology, in which it was a symbol of fertility and abundance — something to do with the belief that each fruit contained exactly 365 seeds, perhaps. Anyway, here’s a compendium of pomegranate iconography from my recent trip. Couldn’t get much information on diversity, I’m afraid, how much there is of it and to what extent it is endangered. Something for the next time.
Armenian agrobiodiversity on sale
Բարի գալուստ Հայաստան!