Fruits and nuts – Page 317 – Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog

October 3, 2007

Vitis genome

Uncommon Ground ably unpacksÂ Nature paper onÂ grapevine genome.

October 3, 2007October 3, 2007

Wild blueberries thrive in Canada

Climate change causes blueberry war.

October 2, 2007

Italian fruit on show

Blast, I missed the Mostra Pomologica!

September 28, 2007September 28, 2007

The next big fruit?

AÃ§aÃ: “nature’s perfect energy fruit.”

September 22, 2007September 22, 2007

National fruit of Cambodia

Chicken egg banana. Not diversity, a variety name.

1. Sir Nathaniel Bacon’s painting records the arrival of American crops in early modern England. And the cookmaid gets equal billing.
2. North America’s bison survived near-extinction, but how much of its genetic diversity is left? Past and present DNA is helping reconstruct what was lost, with implications for how what remains is conserved and managed.
3. China’s wild rice collection in Hainan now holds more than 15,000 samples. A genetic treasure trove, but its value ultimately depends on what breeders can make of it. Much like what’s left of bison diversity.
4. Mycorrhizal fungi form vast underground networks that support plant life and store carbon. A new global map begins to show their extent, and just how much of this biodiversity remains overlooked.
5. Africa’s herbaria hold centuries of botanical history, much of it still effectively invisible. Specimens can reveal shifting plant distributions and overlooked species. First, though, someone has to do the painstaking work of getting the data online.
6. Africa has done painstaking work on seed laws, but getting good seed to farmers remains hard in practice. The gap between policy and delivery is stark, and commercial companies need to work alongside farmer-managed seed systems, not pretend they don’t exist.
Published on October 14, 2026