Category: Genebanks

Posted on

National Public Radio reports on Pavlovsk

It is very refreshing to see some real reporting on the situation around Pavlovsk Experiment Station. National Public Radio in the US today airs a story by reporter David Greene that goes a little beyond the recycling we have seen so much of. He explains, for example, how the gardens at Pavlovsk can look abandoned and yet remain vitally important. He also talks to scientists and locals.

One thing I don’t get. Greene writes:

Barring action by the Kremlin, the first land auction could take place as soon as Sept. 23.

But when will we know the results of either the scrutiny ordered by President Medvedev or the appeal to the Supreme Arbitration Court?

Posted on

Scientists barred from Pavlovsk Experiment Station

A report from the Russian press agency Novosti suggests that the Housing Corporation that has been granted the land occupied by the Pavlovsk collection of the N.I. Vavilov Research Institute of Plant Industry (VIR), pending a further court appeal, has banned scientists from working on the collection.

According to the report, Nikita Stepanov, director of the housing fund’s local branch, wrote to Fyodor Mikhovich, the Pavlovsk Experiment Station’s director:

“He has sent me a letter, in which he prohibits the Pavlovsk station and me, the director, to appear at our collection of fruit and berries, saying this is their property and I must stay away from it,” the station’s acting director Fyodor Mikhovich said.

He said Stepanov accused him of “violating the property rights.”

I suppose keeping the scientists away could lend some truth to the outrageous claim that the land is idle. We know no more.

Posted on

Black rice or blueberries? No contest!

An intriguing press release from the American Chemical Society says that in some respects black rice is better than blueberries:

“Just a spoonful of black rice bran contains more health promoting anthocyanin antioxidants than are found in a spoonful of blueberries, but with less sugar and more fiber and vitamin E antioxidants,” said Zhimin Xu, Associate Professor at the Department of Food Science at Louisiana State University Agricultural Center in Baton Rouge, La. … “If berries are used to boost health, why not black rice and black rice bran? Especially, black rice bran would be a unique and economical material to increase consumption of health promoting antioxidants.”

I like black rice, and I like blueberries, but berries have made all the running lately, what with Pavlovsk and everything, so I thought I would descend into genebank database hell in search of black rice. IRRI would be the obvious first stop in such a search, but I came up empty handed. ((External use of IRGCIS refused to load.)) Next stop, the new kid on the block, Genesys. Fun!

IRRI has not yet supplied Genesys with data on hull colour, but the USDA has, and there were more than 300 mapped varieties of black or purple rice. (Click the pic to embiggen.)

Dr Xu says he’d like to see Louisiana farmers growing black rice, and people in the US embrace its use. Well, as a service to them, either go to Genesys to find the variety information, or play with the Google Earth file directly.

Posted on

Nibbles: CIFOR, Weeds, Camelids, Drought, Biofortification, Buckwheat

  • CIFOR has a blog!
  • Nice series of videos on eating weeds.
  • Video on Peru’s “Andean rodeo.” You heard me.
  • Africa needs drought-tolerant maize. Ok, fair enough, but here’s my question. Shouldn’t they have done this study before doing all that breeding? Oh, who knows, maybe they did.
  • “Biofortification will thus remain relevant to poor rural populations in the years to come, as their incomes will still be far too low to afford a more diversified diet.” What? Who says a diversified diet need be expensive?
  • Russia faces looming buckwheat crisis. At least the genetic resources are safe in the Vavilov Institute. Unless of course somebody decides to, I don’t know, build luxury villas there, or something.