It’s easy enough to get into the habit of thinking that only institutions run genebanks. Things like government research institutes, private seed companies, university departments and maybe NGOs. In fact, of course, private enthusiasts can and do also play an important role in ex situ conservation — of fruit and veg diversity in particular. For example, there’s Gene Yale, of Skokie, near Chicago, who has a passion for collecting apple varieties and planting them in his suburban garden. He’s got over a hundred of them, including the spectacularly ugly but equally tasy Knobbed Russet. Why? Because, as he points out, he’s “nuts.” For agrobiodiversity, clearly. And in a good way. With video goodness.
Seedless lemon mutant
Pip-less lemon launched. Cocktail drinkers rejoice.
Globalized fruit
Globalization = Vietnamese family growing pitaya in California.
More Brogdale discussion
Following my post pointing to a recent article in the Guardian which worried about the fate of the UK’s National Fruit Collection at Brogdale, I’ve been alerted to the discussion that’s been going on at the Fruit Forum, “a webspace for fruit enthusiasts.” Stay tuned…
LATER: See also Lorenzo’s comment to Danny’s post for more information on what’s going on in the European apple world.
Grapes of concord
Grape breeders in the US are making hybrids between Vitis labrusca, a species native to the eastern US best known for the Concord variety, and Vitis vinifera, the European grape, in an effort to get the best of both worlds:
By putting in up to 28,000 seedlings yearly, however, Mr. Cain said he hopes to find marketable varieties, maybe from vines planted last year. He also wants varieties that look distinctive, like elongated grapes, to let consumers know they’re something special. “Combining Eastern and Western grapes in California is like bringing some of the best musicians in the world together on the stage,†Mr. Clark said. “Now let’s see what they’re going to play.â€
Offhand, I can’t think of another example of an important crop with easily crossable congeneric species endemic to the Old and New Worlds, as is the case with Vitis. But I could be wrong…
LATER: What an idiot, there’s cotton, strawberry, lupins…