Category: Genebanks

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Taro resistant to leaf blight ready to go

Over at Pestnet, plant protection experts are wondering why taro varieties resistant to leaf blight are just sitting around in Pacific genebanks rather than making their way to Cameroon, where the disease has just been spotted.

I find it quite quite extraordinary that we cannot attract donor support to avert a food crisis in Cameroon. The varieties they need are already in PNG and Samoa –- the result of donor funded programmes. Other plant health issues like viruses have also been largely sorted –- again by donor funding. A lot of the material is sitting in tissue culture waiting to go. What is the sticking point to get some over there? What about Alocasia that became a staple in Samoa over the shortage there. That would probably be a quicker and more reliable option than plantain which as we know has enough of its own problems in Africa, including the resident black leaf streak which caused a food crisis in its own right when it arrived there. What is now needed to get it moving.

Is it intellectual property issues? Or just ignorance of the existence of these varieties?

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Nibbles: ABS, Climate change and crops, Beer proteome, Cattle SNPs, Nepal genebank, Sceletium tortuosum, CBD, Weeds, Vitamin A

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Pavlovsk is not alone

Over at Vaviblog, Jeremy has a post explaining why Pavlovsk is not unique. Alas, it’s because it’s by no means the only genebank that’s in trouble.

Wellesbourne and Brogdale, the UK’s national collections of vegetable and fruit diversity, have both been through the wringer lately. On October 1 Wellesbourne and the Genetic Resources Unit were officially absorbed into the new Crop Centre at Warwick University. The UK’s national vegetable collection is probably safe, for the time being, but the future of the breeding work that used to be carried out at Wellesbourne, and the many lines resulting from various crosses, is by no means clear. Brogdale too has been placed under new management, and parts of the collection duplicated at other sites where they may be safe, but it’s long-term future too is by no means assured. One could cite many other examples where national collections, built up and maintained thanks to government, are also subject to government’s budgetary whims.

We’ve blogged about the Wellesbourne situation before, and we’ll continue to keep an eye on developments. One hopes that the decision-making process will be a little more transparent than at Pavlovsk, and of course for a positive result in both cases.

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Nibbles: Melongena, Nutrition, Wheat, Pavlovsk, Farming, Phosphate, Lesotho, Almonds