- Uncovering cover crops, the NY Times way.
- Uncovering coconut cultivation in Vietnam, the Roland Bourdeix way.
- Where to expect water shortages, and irrigation. Crying for a mashup.
- When a mango is not just a mango.
- Bread, and much else, according to the Tudors.
- A Belgian plantsman is revolutionizing gardening. No, really.
- How genomics will revolutionize rice breeding. No, really.
- How to get deeper barley roots for drought tolerance? Look to sorghum.
- And today’s miniature livestock is…a donkey.
Nibbles: Poleward migration, Pulse infographic, Vodka, Ancient horse DNA, Old fish, Certified cacao, On farm book, Coarse millets, Banana diversity, Pearl millet demo
- Species flying poleward.
- FAO unveils pulse infographic. No word on whether any are harvestable by machine.
- Potato farmer adds value the old-fashioned way.
- Talking of old, here’s a really old horse.
- And the oldest evidence of fermentation for food preservation. But you’ll need a strong stomach.
- KitKat is certified crap.
- How (and Why) Farmers Maintain Crop Diversity: The Book. Some reviews.
- And here’s a specific example from India.
- And here, courtesy of Bioversity’s Ann Tutwiler, is why farmers need some help sometimes.
- Oh and here’s another one. People visit ICRISAT genebank in Niger, see stuff they like.
Varietal diversity in pulse nutritional quality to be documented, maybe even used
Good to see FAO taking the lead in pulling together nutritional data on pulses, in celebration of the International Year of Pulses. Especially since variety-level information will be sought, according to FAO Nutrition Officer Ruth Charrondière .
…if a micronutrient deficiency is identified within a certain region or population, governments and nutritionists can pinpoint the varieties of pulses that contain the highest levels of the micronutrients, and encourage their production on farms and home gardens in these areas. Governments can also use the data to enrich food based dietary guidelines and national food composition tables. Furthermore, researchers and the private sector can use the food composition data to develop new, nutrient-rich varieties of pulses through cross-breeding and selective breeding, and include these improved varieties in mass production programmes.
There is demand for that sort of thing.
Brainfood: Cajanus breeding, Saline rice, Temperate perennial fodder, Andean beans, Seed microbes
- Pigeonpea breeding in eastern and southern Africa: challenges and opportunities. No longer orphan, but then again not exactly adopted yet.
- Genetic diversity in the rice landraces (Oryza sativa L.) of coastal Sundarbans (India) and their adaptation to the local saline condition investigated both at molecular and physiological level. Out of 50 landraces, three have salinity tolerance genes that have not already been used.
- Review of shrubs and trees in intensive ruminant systems in temperate areas. Promising, but not as common or easy as you might think.
- A Phaseolus vulgaris Diversity Panel for Andean Bean Improvement. Andean diversity assessed for Africa.
- Developmental Peculiarities and Seed-Borne Endophytes in Quinoa: Omnipresent, Robust Bacilli Contribute to Plant Fitness. Next step, try them on other crops. What could possibly go wrong?
Multiplying rice
Speaking of genebank multiplication plots, I’m told this is the best time of year to stroll through rice ones, and get an idea of the diversity on display. Here’s the evidence, courtesy of our friends at IRRI.
The genebank tries to alternate early- and late-maturing varieties when regenerating accessions, as you can clearly see from this Google Earth shot from March last year, half way through the harvest (the coordinates are 14.15°N 121.26°E, in case you want to check for yourself, and here’s the kmz file).
Meanwhile, the Nordic genebank is struggling with its multiplication.