I heard about this last week when I was at NBPGR in New Delhi, but it’s quite surprising to see it in the popular press. Just goes to show how important mango is in India. With funding from the Sultanate of Oman, the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) is going to produce a catalogue of all the mango varieties of the world. Sounds like a monumental enterprise. But, given the news lately about loss of varieties, very timely. Hope the wild relatives will be included.
Nibbles: Grains, Cuba, Wine, Raspberries, Film, Bio-char, European market regulations
- Perennial grains need your help.
- “In Cuba no one is helpless or dying of hunger.”
- Biodiversity in wine champion. But what about other cultivated species?
- “It’s called Ukee and it is a very special red raspberry“. Jeremy says “BTDTGTTS.”
- A sceptic evaluates “Food, Inc.”. Jeremy says “we shall see”.
- “I hope that the charcoal fever passes and the zealots and rent seekers move on to the next big fantasy”. May they pyrolize in Hell.
- Welcome, “curly cucumbers, crooked carrots and mottled mushrooms“!
A different way to conserve coconut
Good news from Roland Bourdeix of CIRAD. His idea for a new approach to the conservation of coconut genetic resources has taken a first important step. Roland wants to find uninhabited, isolated islets around the world and plant each one with a single coconut variety. Think of it: no maintenance costs, no expensive controlled pollinations to preserve the genetic integrity of each population, seednuts whenever you want them. Ok, of course there are drawbacks, but given the costs and difficulties of maintaining conventional coconut field genebanks, it’s worth a try. Roland calls it the Polymotu Project.
Well, Roland now tells us that he has his first islets. Marlon Brando’s family and their company Pacific Beachcomber SC has made available 5 islets from its Tetiaroa atoll. A different Tahitian variety will be conserved on each. As Roland says: “il nous reste encore 45 îlots et vallées à trouver…” Good luck!
Nibbles: Tropical fruits, Thresher, Diet
- Kings, queens and mangosteens. Luigi to report shortly.
- Threshing sorghum? On yer bike!
- Oh rats! Dietary diversity in Niger.
New LEISA mag online
A new edition of LEISA magazine is online, with it’s usual eclectic selection of articles, this time dedicated to the farmer as entrepreneur. It isn’t the most user-friendly site, but we did a bit of work and singled out a few articles.
- Building a community seed bank.
- Marketing a diversity of fruit products.
- High altitude rice in Rwanda.
- The UN’s “new” approach to agriculture.
Anything else you think we should link to specifically?