- University of Hawaii’s work on taro summarized.
- Watch out for FAO’s new NWFP-Digest. Non-timber, non-wood; what’s the difference?
- The transition of maca from neglect to market prominence. Free download.
- Maize and malaria in Ethiopia.
- Gary Nabhan interviewed. Again.
- NPR on the limits of the Green Revolution.
- Cocks still fighting in India.
- The early Egyptians “…were very aware of the benefits that natural additives can have—especially if dissolved into an alcoholic medium, like wine or beer.”
- Brosimum alicastrum to the rescue.
- Uganda’s biofuel hopes dashed by virus? Say it aint so.
Nibbles: Drugs, Horticulture, Nutritional composition, Health, Rice, Coconut
- “Coffee and cocoa yes, coca no.”
- 1st All Africa Horticulture Congress.
- Carotenoid and vitamin content of Micronesian atoll foods: Pandanus (Pandanus tectorius) and garlic pear (Crataeva speciosa) fruit.
- A Family Year: a 5-part television series focusing on the health and environmental threats facing families in Russia and Central Europe.
- Natbar Sarangi: one man Indian rice genebank.
- Climate change “might hinder coconut production“.
Nibbles: Spuds, Bees, Strawberries
- Miss Hathorn plants true potato seed. Good luck.
- In the US? Got space? Grow sunflowers and count bees. Via.
- George Orwell clones Fragaria.
More complex, more interesting, more hopeful
There is simply no way to summarize Willie Smits‘ Ted Talk. It is a masterful description of putting the complexity in an agricultural ecosystem to work to solve the problems of humans and orang-utans. Just astonishing. And so much more intellectually satisfying than a simplified system. Luscious.
花見
And while on the subject of spring, what could be more redolent of Nature’s awakening after winter’s torpor than hanami (花見) — flower watching? You can do it in Washington DC, Brooklyn or Skopje. But the best place to follow the sakurazensen — the cherry blossom front — is clearly Japan. You’ve still got a few more weeks if you live in Hokkaido.
