Genebanks

September 2, 2010

Medvedev buys Pavlovsk some time?

On 31st of August 2010 Pavlovsk Experiment Station of VIR had an unscheduled inspection. The station was visited by representatives of the Public Chamber, the Accounts Chamber as well as representatives of the Russian Housing Development Foundation. This inspection was a result of instruction given by Dmitry Medvedev for this situation to be scrutinized. After visiting two plots the commission was convinced that, indeed, the disputed plots harbor plants that make a part of the Vavilov collection of plant genetic resources. As a result of field inspection — Nadezhda Shkolkina reports — representatives of the RZhS Fund stated they will postpone an auction for an uncertain period.

Hot off the press. A light at the end of the tunnel? Fingers crossed. But let’s keep up the pressure!

September 1, 2010

More Pavlovsk on the web

There’s a very good report from Pavlovsk on Al Jazeera’s youtube channel.

My only objection is to the reference to Pavlovsk as “one of only two botanical repositories on the planet.” And since we’re being all multimedia and social networky, I’ll also mention the photos on the Global Crop Diversity Trust’s Facebook page, which could do with — and are in fact receiving — some user-provided value-added.

September 1, 2010

Nibbles: Sustainability, Market gardens, Tomato history, Millennium Seed Bank

What’s behind “the environmentalist’s paradox“?
Growing vegetables in the Sahel. What could possibly go wrong?
And for the EurekAlert trifecta: the history of the pomodoro in Italy.
Kew Magazine looks at seeds, big time.

August 31, 2010August 31, 2010

Nibbles: Pavlovsk, Maize, Papaver somniferum, Organics, Zulu gardens, Feasts, Female farmers, Transhumance, Dogs

Bioversity International and UNEP jointly pile on the pressure to preserve Pavlovsk …
… as do plant professors from University of Wisonsin.
Mexican maize farmers using CIMMYT genebank materials to adapt their varieties. Why not in Africa, then?
High praise for a novel on opium.
Mat Kinase takes Time to task over lacklustre organics article.
King Goodwill Zwelithini calls for One Home One Garden campaign to support food-growing and nutrition.
Feasts predate agriculture. Well, yeah.
Female farmers … a bloke writes.
Great pic on the joys of modern transhumance.
Resurrecting the Maize King. And why not?
More than anyone has a right to know about dogs in the ancient world.

August 30, 2010August 30, 2010

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?