Genebanks

July 23, 2008July 23, 2008

Quality management in genebanks

You may remember a nibble a few weeks back about CIP’s ISO accreditation for its germplasm acquisition, management and distribution operations. The press release stated that:

This is the first time that a genebank has gained accreditation anywhere in the world.

I was a bit skeptical about this initially, as I knew that some European genebanks had also put in place a formal quality management system. But, on reading about the subject on the website of the Dutch genebank, it seems that what they have achieved is certification, which I have a feeling is quite different to accreditation. Maybe some expert out there will put me out of my misery.

Anyway, I was reminded of all this by a paper just out in Theriogenology which looks at managing the quality of the 127,479 samples in the US swine germplasm collection at Ft Collins.

July 22, 2008July 22, 2008

Nibbles: Sunflowers, Cherries, Red jungle fowl, Sheep, Russia, Kenya, GFU on NUS

USDA boffins tour Aussie garbage dumps.
Today’s “Save the British X” (where X=a fruit of your choice) story comes to you from The Times.
And today’s multiple independent domestications story comes from India.
And today’s how to boost urban biodiversity? From Brighton, UK.
Mapping Russian crops and their pests.
Kenyan government messing with prices to clear wheat market, boost neglected species.
Our friends at the Global Facilitation Unit (for Neglected and Underutilised Species) have published a book.

July 21, 2008July 21, 2008

Nibbles: Desert garden, Funding, Vegetables, Communication, Ecosystem services, Bees, Native grasses, Soil, Raspberries, Ancient ag trade, Soybeans, Ag origins

“See how beautiful you can make with small water!”
IRRI redux.
The problems of vegetable production in Africa, in microcosm.
“This is a local production, storage and distribution system, a huge exhibit of biodiversity.â€™â€™
PNAS special issue on ecosystem services.
Bee books.
Switch to switchgrass.
More than you probably want to know about earthworms.
Evil Fruit Lord questions Scotland-China raspberry deal.
Ancient crop DNA recovered from underwater amphorae. Totally amazing.
Nutritionist introduces soybeans to Afghanistan.
Early PNG agricultural site added to UNESCO World Heritage list.

July 18, 2008July 18, 2008

Nibbles: Funding, Grains, Wildflowers, AVRDC, Cloning, Salinity, Education, Sheep dogs, Swans, Writing, Fisheries, Big ag

Silver lining: IRRI funding up 20% so far this year.
Foodie discovers diversity: Amaranth, Himalayan Red Rice, Teff, Farro, Triticale, Sorghum â€¦ How have I never tried any of these?
Texans save wildflower seeds.
“We are not trying to use vegetables as a substitute for food, but rather as an addition to the food basket, to help farmers become better nourished and grow out of poverty.”
Jurassic Park video.
Olive varieties differ in response to irrigation with saline water.
BBC’s One Planet podcast on urban agriculture in Kampala.
St Kitts kids learn about sweet potato diversity. From the Taiwanese.
Even in the struggle between shepherd and wolf the issue is uncertain.
Agricultural biodiversity rituals corner: swan upping. Ah, swan terrine.
A roundup of Britain’s nature writers. A sort of nature writer upping, I guess.
Remember that catfish post a couple days back? This completes the trifecta.
“…the crop from ground, washed, packed and stacked in supermarket-ready trays in just six minutes.”

July 16, 2008July 17, 2008

Catfish blues

Interesting ichthyological juxtaposition today in the old feed reader. While kids scour the few, small remaining pools of water for catfish in a parched Botswana, over in a specially stocked lake in Thailand, sports anglers catch a giant dog-eating catfish. ((And these things can get pretty big.)) I really like the idea of Lake Monster, where anglers can come and pit their wits, and strength, against those of some of the biggest — and rarest — of freshwater fish. Nice way to take pressure off the natural populations, while assembling an artificial fish diversity hotspot for study purposes. I guess a botanical equivalent would be the gardens of medicinal herbs established by and for traditional healers.