Fruits and nuts

April 15, 2010April 15, 2010

UK public asked to forget election, map cherries instead

In another example of “citizen science” the Natural History Museum in the UK is enlisting the help of the public in a survey of cherry trees.

The results will produce a map of cherry tree locations and their flowering and fruiting timings. It will give scientists a better insight into the cherry tree population and help them find out how climate change may be affecting the flowering and fruiting times.

You can read all about it on the NHM’s website, and follow progress on a handy map.

As I’ve probably said here before, I think this sort of approach could work really well with heirloom varieties. But I imagine not as many people will be interested in oats as in cherries.

April 14, 2010April 14, 2010

Nibbles: Aubergines, Opuntia, Amazonian ag, Kenya, Swiflets, Coconut and Web 2.0, PROTA, Mexico, Fruit wild relatives

More either-or stuff from the Guardian on the Indian GM brijal story.
The USDA prickly pear cactus germplasm collection gets some exposure. And how many times can one say that.
Much better title from Discover on that ancient northern Amazonian earthworks story.
Kenyan foresters tell people to eat bamboo. Luigi’s mother-in-law politely demurs. On the other hand, she might like this.
Swiflet farming? Swiflet farming.
Really heated exchange on paper on coconut lethal yellowing in Yucatan develops on Google Groups. I love the internet.
PROTA publishes expensive book on promising African plants. Promises, promises. NASA promised us the personal jetpack. Where are we with that?
Nice summary of that Mesoamerican agricultural origins story we blogged briefly about a few days ago. So what exactly do you call hunter-gatherers who also grow crops?
First International Symposium on Wild Relatives of Subtropical and Temperate Fruit and Nut Crops will be held March 19-23, 2011 in Davis, California on the campus of the University of California, Davis. Book early.

April 10, 2010

Nibbles: Peach genome, P, Marine protected areas

Size isn’t everything, genome edition.
Nutrient efficiency of agriculture, phosphorus edition.
Win-wins, fisheries edition.

April 8, 2010April 8, 2010

Nibbles: Apples, Mango, Atlas, Cheese

NY Times touts heirloom apple book.
Coca Cola to help Haitian mango farmers.
Nature Conservancy launches online Atlas of Global Conservation. No agriculture, natch.
Promoting Mediterranean cheese.

April 7, 2010April 7, 2010

Bees? We don’t need no stinkin’ bees

It’s obvious really. If you have a problem in a billion-dollar industry — almonds — because your workforce — bees — are dying like flies, what do you do? Forget the bees. Breed almonds that don’t need pollinators!

Which is exactly what breeders at the USDA are doing. Actually, self-pollinating almonds are apparently nothing new. There’s a Spanish variety, Tuono, ¹ that “has been around for centuries”. But it doesn’t suit the almond industry of California. Even before Colony Collapse Disorder became a problem the USDA geneticists were busy using Tuono as the pollen parent in a series of crosses, because in addition to dispensing with bees it has other good properties. And now eight new, self-pollinating varieties have been evaluated. In time, they may replace the standard, bee-demanding variety Nonpareil, which apparently accounts for 37% of California’s almond trees. ²

Oh, and if you’re really into almonds, you probably already know about The Almond Doctor.