- Assessment of genetic diversity of sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (l.) Moench] germplasm in East and Central Africa. Each country is different.
- A Review of Living Collections with Special Emphasis on Sustainability and Its Impact on Research Across Multiple Disciplines. Crop genebanks are just the tip of the iceberg, but they all have the same problems.
- Why Oats Are Safe and Healthy for Celiac Disease Patients. Because of the avenins.
- 14,000-year-old seeds indicate the Levantine origin of the lost progenitor of faba bean. Eureka!
- Monitoring Changes in Genetic Diversity. Needs genetic data.
- An exploratory analysis on how geographic, socioeconomic, and environmental drivers affect the diversity of livestock breeds worldwide. More animals = more breeds.
- Cryopreservation and evaluations of vegetative growth, microtuber production and genetic stability in regenerants of purple-fleshed potato. Apparently the first time it was done for this colour of sweet potatoes.
- Sequencing of Australian wild rice genomes reveals ancestral relationships with domesticated rice. N. Australia is the centre of diversity of genome A.
- Genetic diversity and variability in Foxtail millet [Setaria italica (L.)] germplasm based on morphological traits. 51 Indian elites form non-geographic groups.
- The Bonsai as an alternative safety duplication system of the world cassava collection preserved at CIAT. So cool.
- Conservation of food tree species in Niger: towards a participatory approach in rural communities. Adansonia, Boscia and Maerua need watching.
Brainfood: Aichi 14, Dwarf coconut diversity, Food system sustainability, African data, Pepper core, Australian flora, EU seed law, Rice conservation, Israeli genebank, ICRISAT pearl millet diversity
- Status and Trends in Global Ecosystem Services and Natural Capital: Assessing Progress Toward Aichi Biodiversity Target 14. 21 datasets, and the only “state” indicator for the “food” service is fisheries stocks?
- SSR markers reveal the population structure of Sri Lankan yellow dwarf coconuts (Cocos nucifera L.). They’ve been naughty with the talls.
- Identifying attributes of food system sustainability: emerging themes and consensus. Diversity, modularity, transparency, innovation and congruence. You had me at diversity.
- CELL5M: A geospatial database of agricultural indicators for Africa South of the Sahara. 134 data layers for harvested crop area.
- Genetic diversity and population structure analysis to construct a core collection from a large Capsicum germplasm. Based on transcriptome, no less.
- Genetic diversity and structure of the Australian flora. Meta-analysis finds some surprises. But for CWR?
- Securing Crop Genetic Diversity: Reconciling EU Seed Legislation and Biodiversity Treaties. EU seed law is an ass.
- Diversity Among Rice Landraces Under Static (Ex Situ) and Dynamic (On-Farm) Management: A Case from North-Western Indian Himalayas. For two landraces, more alleles per locus in situ compared to ex situ. And?
- Strategies and priorities in field collections for ex situ conservation: the case of the Israel Plant Gene Bank. Sort of a core collection of the whole flora.
- Adaptation Pattern and Genetic Potential of Indian Pearl Millet Named Landraces Conserved at the ICRISAT Genebank. Agronomically derived clusters show geographically structured distributions.
Nibbles: Royal Soc discussion, Meyer Medal, Adopt-a-seed, Organic coffee, Seed book, CGIAR genebanks, Open source seeds, EUCARPIA conference, Vegetables, Geographic indications
- Prof. Brian Cox presents “Feeding the Future,” and it’s not entirely about GMOs. Worth sitting through the whole thing.
- Did we say that Cary Fowler recently received the Frank N. Meyer Medal for Plant Genetic Resources? This is what he had to say on a different recent occasion.
- Want to adopt a coffee seed? Kew will let you give a really cool Christmas gift.
- Or you could buy some Ethiopian coffee.
- Speaking of Christmas gifts…
- CIAT’s bean diversity collection gets its 15 minutes of fame. And ICARDA’s chickpea collection is not far behind.
- More on “open source seeds.”
- Mobilizing the green gold of plant genetic resources: maybe if they were open source…
- Not just green, though, right? Veggies come in all sorts of colours.
- Brexit may do for Wensleydale. I knew there must be a silver lining.
Pulse diversity in India measured, precisely
India had 65,209 varieties of pulses and beans. Know more about it. Join National Workshop on Pulses Diversity, Bhubaneshwar, Dec 17-18 pic.twitter.com/DPEKI5vyo7
— Devinder Sharma (@Devinder_Sharma) December 7, 2016
I won’t argue, but I would like to know where the number comes from. Maybe it’s the number of accessions in the Indian genebank?
Brainfood: Pre-breeding, Wheat in Ethiopia, CAP & minor crops, IITA germplasm management, Cassava improvement, B73 maize inbred, Livestock uses, Range expansion, Sustainability standards, Soybean origins, Popping sorghum
- Evolving gene banks: improving diverse populations of crop and exotic germplasm with optimal contribution selection. Crop genebanks should learn from livestock breeding.
- Ethiopian wheat yield and yield gap estimation: A spatially explicit small area integrated data approach. You can explain 40% of the variation in wheat yield without leaving your office.
- Land Use, Yield and Quality Changes of Minor Field Crops: Is There Superseded Potential to Be Reinvented in Northern Europe? The CAP has been really bad for minor crops in Finland.
- Navigating international exchange of plant genetic resources amidst biosecurity challenges: experiences of IITA in Africa. Genebanks need to work closely with people who know about phytosanitary rules.
- Rooting for cassava: insights into photosynthesis and associated physiology as a route to improve yield potential. Canopy structure and architecture could do with improvement. No doubt IITA are working on that.
- Genetic variability within accessions of the B73 maize inbred line. Is greater than it should be.
- Using Rare Breeds in Animal-Assisted Activities: A New Model Proposed at the “Animal Farm” in Ladispoli (Rome, Italy). Worthy effort, terrible name.
- Adaptive and non-adaptive evolution of trait means and genetic trait correlations for herbivory resistance and performance in an invasive plant. When plants are released from pressure from natural enemies, they gradually lose resistance to herbivory and perform better, but independently.
- How Can High-Biodiversity Coffee Make It to the Mainstream Market? The Performativity of Voluntary Sustainability Standards (VSS) and Outcomes for Coffee Diversification. Apparently, it can’t, not without changing its flavour.
- Genetic diversity center of cultivated soybean (Glycine max) in China – New insight and evidence for the diversity center of Chinese cultivated soybean. Here. But not only.
- Heritability of Popping Characteristics in Sorghum Grain. You can breed for popping quality, but environment also has an effect.