- Is local biodiversity declining or not? A summary of the debate over analysis of species richness time trends. Better data needed.
- How endogenous plant pararetroviruses shed light on Musa evolution. Some banana plants have B genomes which are non-infective for potentially nasty viral integrants, making them good parents in breeding programmes.
- Late Holocene forest contraction and fragmentation in central Africa. From one horse’s mouth: “…this fragmentation 2500 years ago allowed the migration of the Bantu through the forests, who were able to exploit pioneering trees, such as energy rich oil palms which had colonized the gaps created, as well as being able to cultivate for the first times cereals in this newly created agricultural zone, notably pearl millet.”
- Cryobiotechnology of apple (Malus spp.): development, progress and future prospects. “…one of the most extensively studied plant genera with respect to cryopreservation.”
- Sustaining the Future of Plant Breeding: The Critical Role of the USDA-ARS National Plant Germplasm System. The next level: gap filling, more phenotyping and genotyping, better info systems, more pre-breeding, improved training for using PGR in breeding programs, expanded outreach. Could say the same about the rest of the world too.
- Role of Viral Diagnostics in Quarantine for Plant Genetic Resources and Preparedness. Calls for India to put in place a “National Plant Pests Diagnostic and Certification Network.” Maybe should be added to above.
- Threatened Goat Breeds from the Tropics: The Impact of Crossbreeding with Foreign Goats. You need to be careful with it, Brazilians say.
- Importance of native animal genetic resources. Turks too.
- Editorial: Harvesting plant and microbial biodiversity for sustainably enhanced food security. A whole Research Topic, no less. No animals though…
- Genotypic variability enhances the reproducibility of an ecological study. Because it buffers the effects of “environmental” differences in laboratory studies.
- Unlocking new alleles for leaf rust resistance in the Vavilov wheat collection. 13 new loci, maybe.
- Leaf Doctor: A New Portable Application for Quantifying Plant Disease Severity. Something to test the above with.
- Household Determinants of the Adoption of Improved Cassava Varieties using DNA Fingerprinting to Identify Varieties in Farmer Fields: A Case Study in Colombia. 434 samples from 217 farmers reveals 120 varieties, 9 of which were improved; farmers overestimate their use of new varieties, but in general those with more dependents, more land, and more access to extension have more improved varieties.
Nibbles: Sustainable wheat, Bananacoin, Tuscan agrobiodiversity, Fig conservation, Foraging beer, Wizard vs Prophet, SDGs, Harlan Symposium
- General Mills goes all sustainable. But the genebanks?
- The future of bananas is banana futures. But the genebanks?
- Agrobiodiversity in Tuscany: The App. Who needs genebanks.
- “Correia, a 59-year-old third-generation Delta resident, has one of the most diverse collections of the common fig, Ficus carica, in the world.” Put that in an app.
- The two approaches to feeding 10 billion people. Only two?
- “Eradicating hunger and ensuring food security is a bottom-line requirement for achieving sustainable development and well-being.” Problem is, it’s not the top priority.
- Otherwise orphan crops wouldn’t be orphans.
- Foraged beer is a thing. A very cool thing, and you can probably use orphan crops too.
- A place to discuss all of the above? The Third Jack R. Harlan International Symposium.
Nibbles: Pine nuts, Indian rice, Chai, Amazonian encyclopedia, Sustainable markets, First cryo, Wild apples, Scurvy
- Mongolians nuts for pine nuts.
- Indians increasingly nuts for heirloom rices.
- Tea: a tale of two words.
- Wait, Mongabay does podcasts now?
- DfID backs sustainable supply chains. But is diversity considered?
- The origins of cryo.
- Student saves apple. Species, that is.
- Scurvy was not all bad? Who needs fruit.
Nibbles: Development egos, CGN, Fijian adaptation, Seedxit, Fancy coconuts, Seed dealers, Heritage rice, Rumsfeld & biodiversity, Grass-fed beef beef
- Development thinkers pithily skewered.
- CGN’s new brochure.
- Fijian farmers dealing with climate change with diverse, triple-layered systems, and small, phased, staggered planting. Or, common sense.
- Brexit will mean less choice of seeds for British farmers. Maybe.
- £3 for a coconut? Nuts.
- Dealing with seed dealers to speed up new rice variety delivery.
- How about the heirlooms, though? Maybe they can take care of themselves.
- The value of biodiversity is a known unknown.
- Forage quality is known, and decreasing.
Nibbles: Irradiated mangoes, PNG genebank, Chinese taro, Strawberry breeding, DNA sequencing, Googling sheep, Weird pineapple, Agroforestry, Olive diversity, Xylella, Fermentation, Pulque & mezcal, Cheese & donkeys, Italian food double, Tomato double, Fairchild, Vanilla history, Potato history, Kelemu
- Did you miss us? Well, we’re making up for lost time today. Buckle up.
- Seafaring mangoes.
- India to help PNG get (another?) genebank.
- Somebody mention taro? The Chinese are coming.
- Strawberries for Christmas.
- Handheld genotyping. Brave new world.
- All the sheep in the world.
- Trees > lungs.
- Pink pineapple. Yeah, why not.
- Tuscan olives are Etruscan.
- Wonder if they’ll survive.
- Fermentation never went away.
- Case in point #1: pulque.
- Which is a cousin of mezcal.
- Case in point #2: cheese.
- Of which this is the most expensive, apparently.
- 2018 is the year of italian food, according to italians.
- Maybe they’ll use this infographic to advertize it.
- The transatlantic history of a mainstay of italian cooking, the tomato.
- Which looks really diverse in the Canaries too.
- “Food spy” is a bit harsh on Fairchild.
- Wonder if he ever collected vanilla.
- Or potatoes.
- Hero is about right for Segenet.