Fruits and nuts

February 11, 2010February 13, 2010

Kyrgyzstan’s fruits and nuts in peril

Fauna and Flora International and its partner in Kyrgystan, the Kyrgyzstan Ecological Public Foundation (TAZA), are trying to take the pressure off the country’s rich fruit and nut forests by introducing alternative energy sources.

TAZA is helping to trial solar energy in fruit drying, stoves, and water heaters in several villages. The reaction from local people is already positive, though the scheme is in its early stages.

There must be a lot of places around the world where something similar has been tried. Any meta-analyses of such interventions?

January 29, 2010January 28, 2010

Vote for your favourite nutrition innovation

The finalists of the Improved Nutrition Solutions Through Innovation competition are up on Ashoka’s Changemakers site. One project promises that a “native rainforest food for school lunches improves child health while motivating reforestation.” And another wants to produce nutritional supplements from Moringa. It may not be enormously innovative, but I personally like Gardens for Health best, because it has the least of the silver bullet about it, and the most agrobiodiversity.

Gardens for Health enables people living with HIV/AIDS to improve their nutrition, health, and treatment adherence through sustainable agriculture. GHI provides access to land and patient capital for community gardens, seeds and tree seedlings for family home gardens, technical assistance in sustainable agriculture and nutrition, and market linkages

Go vote. You have until 8 February.

January 24, 2010January 24, 2010

Keeping up to date with taxonomy made easier

Yesterday I was invited to submit one of my photos to the Flickr pool on Systematic Botany. Yes, I know. The media ought to be alerted. But I point this out less to draw attention to my photographic prowess than to highlight the fact that there is in fact a Flickr pool on Systematic Botany, and that it is a lot of fun. Exploring the discussion forum led me to an old news item about staff at the National Museum Cardiff and Kew naming a whole bunch of new Sorbus species, and not from some isolated corner of the world either, but England and Wales.

Some of these trees have probably developed recently and are examples of on-going evolution of new species. Others are older types which have been known for some time but are only now described as ‘species’ thanks to modern DNA methods.

Some Sorbus species have economic uses, and the taxonomy is made horrendously complicated by rampant hybridization and apomixis.

Coincidentally, IIALD had a piece on a new scheme “supporting and promoting the development of persistent and openly accessible digital taxonomic literature.” I wonder whether making photographs of plants available through Flickr or some other image sharing site might contribute to this worthy cause.

January 17, 2010January 17, 2010

Nibbles: Indian apples, Taro leaf blight, Pachira

Video on the effect of climate change on apple cultivation in Himachal Pradesh.
Video on taro breeding in the Dominican Republic.
Photos of Malabar chestnut.

January 6, 2010February 10, 2014

Nibbles: Indian buffalo, Indian local crops, CBD, AgricultureBridge, Kew, Geo-referencing, Cyprus, China and climate change, CC icons, Chinese AnGR, FAO information, Rose symbolism, Pacific ethnobotany, Grape history and genetics, Taraxacum

Hold on to your hats, this will make up for lost time. Hope you all had a nice break, Happy New Year!

Video on the “Night Queen of Chilika.” Not what you think: it’s a buffalo breed.
Indian jury calls for more work on local crops. Wait, a jury?
Indian NGO says “[n]ational sovereignty over genetic resources could undermine food security.” Wow.
AgricultureBridge “connect[s] practitioners to each other and to leading universities to help resolve some of the world’s most pressing questions in agriculture and conservation.” We’ll see.
Big year for Kew: many new species described, including CWRs; many blogs launched; much geo-referencing done.
Not agrobiodiversity, but speaking of geo-referencing and the like…
Cypriot no man’s land good for biodiversity. Including crop wild relatives? I think we should be told.
Chinese farmers struggle to adapt to climate change. Plenty more of this kind of thing out there, no doubt. Like this, for instance?
And yet list of “climate change icons” only includes one plant. Something should be done.
Chinese researchers talk about animal genetic resources conservation. If you’re frustrated at missing that, get ready for Europeans talking about the Mediterranean pig. But meanwhile, get to grips with the FAO Animal Genetic Resources Information Bulletin.
Speaking of FAO info bulletins, feast on the ones on non-wood forest products and plant breeding.
A rose is a rose is a rose. But for the Romans?
Carcinogenic bark of endemic Pohnpei cinnamon not bad for you after all. If you boil it.
“It is ironic that the despised grape Gouais blanc was not just a parent for several of the world’s best-known and most important varieties, such as Chardonnay and Gamay noir, it was the maternal parent, providing additional DNA and potentially determining important characteristics of the offspring.” Oh, so, so ironic.
Natural rubber from weird dandelion? No, really, all kinds of boffins are working on it.