- “…WFP’s partnership with the Millennium Villages Project would deploy the full range of the Programme’s tools and help utilize the Millennium Villages as a platform for best practices.” Good. But let’s just hope the villagers’ own best tool — agrobiodiversity — doesn’t get left behind.
- More on the Cotacachi agroecotourism project in Ecuador.
- Heritage tourism in the Virgin Islands targets old sugar cane mill.
- The “mango villages” of India.
- Pollination needs to go wild.
- Ok, so the CGIAR is going to re-organize itself into mega-programmes (look at the PDF at the bottom of the page), one of which is on “Crop germplasm conservation, enhancement and use.” Big deal? I wish I knew.
- Pssst, wanna discuss grape breeding?
- More from IIED on landraces and climate change.
- Deforestation, drought and politics in Kenya.
- Tracking eel migrations.
Nibbles: Gary Nabhan, Poppies, Gates and Worldwatch, Vavilov update, Aquaponics
- “His piped cowboy shirt and vest made my westy heart ache with thoughts of home, and the intensity of his commitment to bringing variety back to our land and our table was inspiring…” I bet it was.
- “The briefing note apparently anticipates a public-relations battle over planting poppies on the Prairies.” I bet it does.
- “You ask if the money might have been better spent supporting the dissemination of this proven knowledge within Africa.” I bet they did.
- Cassava processing in Africa. Lots of people betting on this.
- Vavilov finds enormous onions in Algeria. Who wants to bet they’re still there?
- Aquaponics catching on in Hawaii? You bet.
Mapping free fruit
Free-fruit enthusiasts have put together a Google Maps application to help them forage. Only has a few sites around Britain and Germany at the moment, but I bet it will grow.
Would it be so difficult to have something similar to report threats of genetic erosion, for example? I know Jacob thinks that would be useless, as a threat is only really a threat if it is likely to have an effect on overall genetic diversity, not just on what is available locally. But I’m not so sure. And it would be fun to do.
Nibbles: Seed Hunter, Seed catalogs, Trees
- Seed Hunter “undaunted.” So that’s all right then.
- Smithsonian puts old seed catalogs online. Very cool.
- By all means plant trees, especially on farms, but a plantation is not a rainforest.
Nibbles: Carotenoids, Banana diseases, Pigeons, Fisheries, Animal welfare, Camels in the Netherlands
- Evaluating tomatoes for carotenoids.
- Yet more on those banana diseases in Africa, this time from VOA.
- Stop maligning pigeons already.
- Six boffins on the fisheries crisis.
- The difference between dogs and pigs.
- Dutch find camels difficult. Camels no doubt return the favour.