- Efficiency of insect‐proof net tunnels in reducing virus‐related seed degeneration in sweet potato. “Seed” meaning vines. And yes, those tunnels work.
- Divergence with gene flow is driven by local adaptation to temperature and soil phosphorus concentration in teosinte subspecies (Zea mays parviglumis and Zea mays mexicana). Genetic differences between the two subspecies is maintained by adaptive divergence despite gene flow.
- Agronomic Performance and Nitrogen Fixation of Heirloom and Conventional Dry Bean Varieties Under Low-Nitrogen Field Conditions. Not much difference, which is actually interesting.
- Evolutionary Insights into the Nature of Plant Domestication. It’s a long process, in which natural selection and interspecific hybridization play an important part, involving many of the same genes across species.
- Cryptic genetic variation accelerates evolution by opening access to diverse adaptive peaks. Add to the above? Ah no, only in bacteria so far.
- Screening African rice (Oryza glaberrima) for tolerance to abiotic stresses: III Flooding. From a collection of >2,000 to 11 better than Asian rice. You’re wondering about I and II, aren’t you?
- Understanding the factors influencing fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda J.E. Smith) damage in African smallholder maize fields and quantifying its impact on yield. A case study in Eastern Zimbabwe. Differences among maize varieties, but weeding, tillage and intercropping also have an effect. Have yield losses been overestimated, though? Maybe.
- Natural selection contributed to immunological differences between hunter-gatherers and agriculturalists. But the evidence seems to be that the pathogen burden was higher for the hunter-gatherers, which goes counter to everything we’ve been taught by Jared Diamond.
- Increasing crop heterogeneity enhances multitrophic diversity across agricultural regions. More crops means more biodiversity in general.
- More Than the Sum of Its Parts: Microbiome Biodiversity as a Driver of Plant Growth and Soil Health. More microbes mean better plant growth.
- Science–graphic art partnerships to increase research impact. Free your inner artist.
- Genetic diversity, linkage disequilibrium, and population structure analysis of the tea plant (Camellia sinensis) from an origin center, Guizhou plateau, using genome-wide SNPs developed by genotyping-by-sequencing. Four groups: pure wild type, admixed wild type, ancient landraces and modern landraces.
- The Relative Caloric Prices of Healthy and Unhealthy Foods Differ Systematically across Income Levels and Continents. …and at least partially explain differences in undernutrition and overweight in adults. Here’s the infographic.
- Household-level drivers of dietary diversity in transitioning agricultural systems: Evidence from the Greater Mekong Subregion. It’s complicated and context-specific, but dietary diversity seems to generally increase with agricultural “development,” i.e. market orientation, specialisation, and intensification. Somewhat surprising? I’ve lost track, frankly.
- Potential role of neglected and underutilized plant species in improving women’s empowerment and nutrition in areas of sub-Saharan Africa. So is increasing cultivation of orphan crops a driver or a consequence of agricultural development? See what I mean? Anyway, useful review.
Nibbles: ICRISAT genebank, Rubus, Microbial collections, AnGR, Xylella podcast, Andean ag, Chefs galore, Zizania, Peas, Inflatable beans, NUS, Potato Day, TR4, CC impacts, Cereals
- Wanna work in a genebank in Niamey?
- More on that proposed livestock genebank in Uganda.
- Microbes have collections too.
- On his holiday, Jeremy mainly looked at dead olive trees. Freak.
- The Potato King looks like a cool movie. Chef Ramsey’s latest? Maybe not so much.
- Oh crap, we missed National Potato Day. Not in Peru, settle down.
- More chefs, this time fiddling with rice in Tanzania, of all places.
- Will they do wild rice next?
- Peas getting a chance. But are they going to get inflatables like these bean varieties?
- But does it qualify as underutilized still, I wonder?
- Get to grips with brambles. The whole series is worth following.
- TR4 reaches South America’s bananas. Be afraid.
- Climate change will affects the region’s rainfed maize too.
- You’ll want sustainably sourced breakfast cereals to put those non-existent bananas on. Hey, companies, what about conserving genetic diversity along with that soil?
Brainfood: Mineral history, Tomato nutrients, Tomato breeding, Phenotyping plants, Restoration genomics, Green Revolution, Banana B, SPAM2005, Ancient Chinese wheat, Late blight, Sorghum seed size, N & stability, African cannabis, Brazil wheat, Wild safflower
- Mineral nutrient composition of vegetables, fruits and grains: The context of reports of apparent historical declines. Apparent being the operative word. This is a couple of years old but always worth recycling. (There’s also this Politico piece from a couple of years back on the “nutrient collapse.”)
- Phenolic composition and antioxidant properties of ex-situ conserved tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) germplasm. But there’s always room for improvement.
- Genetic Diversity and Population Structure of Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) Germplasm Developed by Texas A&M Breeding Programs. Plenty of diversity out there for it.
- Crop productivity as related to single-plant traits at key phenological stages in durum wheat. On isolated plants, only specific leaf weight and spike partitioning at anthesis were correlated with population yield.
- The potential of genomics for restoring ecosystems and biodiversity. From improved seed sourcing to gene editing for funky genotypes.
- Was the Green Revolution intended to maximise food production? No, apparently it was to encourage a move to commercial production in specific areas.
- Musa balbisiana genome reveals subgenome evolution and functional divergence. The starch synthesis pathway is more active than in the A-subgenome. There’s probably more, but that’s all I could understand.
- Pixelating crop production: Consequences of methodological choices. Crop prices and market access had little effect on the robustness of the SPAM2005 spatial production allocation model.
- Phylogenetic and population structural inference from genomic ancestry maintained in present‐day common wheat Chinese landraces. 3000 old wheat not dissimilar to current landraces in W China.
- Stacking three late blight resistance genes from wild species directly into African highland potato varieties confers complete field resistance to local blight races. But it’s GM so it doesn’t count, right?
- Genomic signatures of seed mass adaptation to global precipitation gradients in sorghum. Drought stress led to bigger grains.
- Nitrogen addition reduced ecosystem stability regardless of its impacts on plant diversity. Stability depends on more than just diversity. In grasslands.
- A brief agricultural history of cannabis in Africa, from prehistory to canna-colony. Decolonise the weed.
- Genetic Gain Over 30 Years of Spring Wheat Breeding in Brazil. 1.3% per year. Is it enough? Can it be sustained?
- The Use of Wild Relatives of Safflower to Increase Genetic Diversity for Fatty Acid Composition and Drought Tolerance. So transgressive.
Nibbles: Mango diversity, Feral hogs, OFSP, Synthetic kava, Linen, Posters, Pigeonpea pre-breeding, Breeding, Ancient yeast, European seeds
- Nevis has 44 kinds of mango, including Amory Polly, which could actually be Amrapali आम्रपाली.
- A twitter thread on “hogs, ferality, and race in American history.” If that doesn’t make you click nothing will.
- “Can sweet potatoes reduce widespread vitamin A deficiency in Africa?” Guess.
- The end of kava as we know it?
- Making linen.
- Better scientific posters? Here’s hoping.
- Pigenonpea pre-breeding lines hit the bigtime.
- Mapping fires from space. Part of an early warning system for crop wild relatives?
- Roundup of how some breeders are preparing crops for climate change.
- No expiration date on yeast.
- A couple of European crop diversity projects: DYNAVERSITY and ReSEED.
Nibbles: Crop map, Breeding, CePaCT, African coconut, Cacao & vanilla, Malaysian fruits, Basmati, Rice saving, Grapevine diversity, Wild foods, Cornell hemp genebank, Potato breeding course, Chinese aquaculture, Chinese trees, Plant identification, Menu language, Shepherding, US forests, Global fires, Red Listing, MERL, Pea gin
- Nice vintage map of global crop distribution, starring wheat.
- CIMMYT DG on the glories of plant breeding, starring wheat (p. 6).
- Australia supports Pacific genebank. No wheat in sight.
- Saving coconut. No, not in the Pacific.
- The history of chocolate and vanilla. The crops, not the ice cream.
- Speaking of ice cream: maybe someone should try making some out of these tasty endangered fruits before it’s too late.
- Speaking of tasty: basmati.
- Speaking of rice: this guy has 1420 varieties.
- Hey, it’s not about the taste: it’s the ethics too, stupid. But, being wine, it’s also about the taste.
- Speaking of ethics: what good is forest conservation if it stops people accessing wild foods.
- At least one senator gets it.
- You’ve got a few weeks to register for a potato breeding course. Using CWR, no less.
- Amazing pics of Chinese aquaculture.
- Chinese efforts to save ancient trees. No connection with above at all. And no pics.
- Google will identify your plants. Of course it will.
- Speaking at Google: a linguist (Dan Jurafsky) on menus.
- Next generation shepherding in South Africa. No sign of Google, though. For now.
- Interactive atlas of US forests. There goes the afternoon. Imagine if if ever got mashed up with the global fire atlas.
- Automated Red List assessments. Wow.
- The MERL has an exhibition on the history of farming. One of my favourite museums, one of my favourite topics. My cup runneth over.
- Gin made from peas. Sometimes I hate farming.