- Modern maize varieties going local in the semi-arid zone in Tanzania. OPVs from the 80s are creolizing still, and that’s a good thing.
- Traditional Knowledge Systems, International Law and National Challenges: Marginalization or Emancipation? Well, it looks like it’s the former, but should be the latter. ‘Twas ever thus.
- Valuing insurance services emerging from a gene bank: The case of the Greek Gene Bank. Benefits are greater than costs. Phew.
- Banana genotype composition along the Uganda-Democratic Republic of Congo border: a gene pool mix for plantain and highland bananas. You can still find new stuff. And get funding to look for it, clearly.
- Relationships between the Weedy Amaranthus hybridus (Amaranthaceae) and the Grain Amaranths. Multiple domestications? And why not.
- Genetic Diversity Analysis of Some Ethiopian Specialty Coffee (Coffea arabica L.) Germplasm Accessions Based on Morphological Traits. As ever, useful variation was found. We await its arrival in our morning cup.
- Genetic diversity of Dacryodes buettneri (Engl.) H.J. Lam (Burseraceae), a timber tree in Central Africa. There is some. It could be important, yada yada.
- Malus sieversii: A Diverse Central Asian Apple Species in the USDA-ARS National Plant Germplasm System. The infra-specific taxa may not hold up.
- Exploiting Genomic Resources for Efficient Conservation and Use of Chickpea, Groundnut, and Pigeonpea Collections for Crop Improvement. It’s so close, these guys can taste it. When will we?
- Is genetic information a commons? Maybe it should be.
- Genetic structure and gene flow in Beta vulgaris subspecies maritima along the Atlantic coast of France. The latitudinal cline that wasn’t.
- Restoration of degraded agricultural terraces: Rebuilding landscape structure and process. Restoration is not enough, you need continuous management thereafter. Probably applies to the agricultural biodiversity too, when you think about it.
- Agro-biodiversity in rice–wheat-based agroecosystems of eastern Uttar Pradesh, India: implications for conservation and sustainable management. Resource-poor farmers are better at agrobiodiversity conservation than rich ones. ‘Twas ever thus.
Nibbles: British foods, NBPGR wheat, CIMMYT wheat, Innovation, Ghana cowpea, Nordic grog, Medicinal purposes, Heirloom chocolate, Grünewoche, Dog genomics, Berry go Round, Broad beans, Ag landscapes, Tea and CC
- Google Map of British protected food names. Where’s fish and chips? Or the cream tea. Japan next?
- Indian genebank in the record books for characterizing wheat.
- And with no help from CIMMYT!
- Getting those damn smallholders to innovate already.
- Ghana gets a new cowpea to innovate with. Well, almost.
- And there I was thinking smallholders had been innovating for thousands of years. Even in the frozen north. Winter may be coming, but we’ve got grog. Which you know is good for you.
- As is chocolate, so go ahead and submit your heirloom cacao beans for evaluation. But don’t be tempted to cheat. We’ll know if you are.
- Oh damn, it’s Green Week.
- The story behind the methods used in a recent paper on dog diversity. Wonkish.
- We seem to have slipped off the Berry Go Round treadmill, which means we missed some gorgeous photos of broad beans.
- And another belated treat: UNESCO’s round up of World Heritage agricultural landscapes.
- …one of which is not tea in China, but maybe it should be, before it’s too late.
Nibbles: Rice show, Central Asian forests, Research archives, Opium, Data stuff, Indian seeds, Ag expansion
- Rice symposium wows Hong Kong.
- Fruits and nuts of Kyrgyzstan.
- Rothamstead’s archives look totally cool.
- One does wonder whether Afghanistan could learn something from Colorado.
- When did continued collaboration become news, CIAT?
- Cherokee continue to save seeds.
- Agricultural expansion a continuing a bad thing for nature.
Nibbles: Agroecology, Genomics meet, African botany meet, Gardens, ISHS, Market chains, KFC in Africa, Wine terroir, Vanilla research, Dye mushrooms, French agrobiodiversity research, Indian genebank, Policy newsletter, Eels, Neolithic grain
- USDA should think about agroecology more. Or at all?
- The latest from PAGXXII. Lots on domestication, genebanks, crop improvement, all that cool stuff.
- There’s also AETFAT going on, and it’s just as cool. Maybe more so. Though less socially networked, I guess.
- How public gardens should build up living plant collections. You’d have thought they’d know.
- An update on plant genetic resources from ISHS. Lots happening…
- How to support agrobiodiversity through sustainable sourcing.
- KFC must have read that slideshare above.
- Breaking down the terroir. And not for the first time.
- Does vanilla have terroirs? I bet it does. Should ask the world’s expert.
- Dye mushrooms? Are you kidding me?
- ARCAD, DIADE: No matter how you spell it, lots of French interest (and money) in crop and livestock genetics.
- Likewise in India, it looks like from this piece on NBPGR.
- The Bioversity Policy Unit is apparently still alive and kicking.
- European eels a conservation success story?
- Let the ancient DNA sequencing begin!
Brainfood: Diversity in restoration, Niche model validation, Dutch diets, Markets in conservation, Genomics for stress, Protected agroecosystems, Cocksfoot diversity, Tree breeding, Organic in India, Coconut origins, Dope diversity
- Application of genetic diversity–ecosystem function research to ecological restoration. Cultivars vs local populations vs genetic diversity approaches in restoration reviewed. More research needed, natch, but genetic diversity should not be dismissed out of hand in a bid for rapid establishment or long-term persistence, as it may well be best for ecosystem functioning.
- Application of consensus theory to formalize expert evaluations of plant species distribution models. Given arm-twisting, experts like models.
- Exploring dietary guidelines based on ecological and nutritional values: A comparison of six dietary patterns. The Dutch should eat less meat. No word on beer.
- Market-based mechanisms for biodiversity conservation: a review of existing schemes and an outline for a global mechanism. You can’t monetize what you can’t measure.
- Genomic resources for breeding crops with enhanced abiotic stress tolerance. You still need the phenotyping.
- Perceptual distinctiveness in Native American maize (Zea mays L.) landraces has practical implications. Kernel colour diversity is a marker for other, more interesting, kinds of diversity.
- Can agro-ecosystems efficiently complement protected area networks? Yes, but only in combination with expansion of protected natural habitats. For birds in Israel, that is.
- Indicators for genetic and phenotypic diversity of Dactylis glomerata in Swiss permanent grassland. Management alters both genotype and phenotype.
- A ‘Reality Check’ in the Management of Tree Breeding Programmes. Have come far, but still a ways to go, in particular with regard to the balance between DNA-based vs conventional breeding and genetic gain vs genetic preservation.
- Yield and Economic Performance of Organic and Conventional Cotton-Based Farming Systems — Results from a Field Trial in India. Organic soybean may be a viable long-term option. Cotton and wheat, jury still out. But early days yet, these rotation trials take a long time to get going.
- Long-distance dispersal of the coconut palm by migration within the coral atoll ecosystem. Hugh Harries, one of the authors, in a recent email to us: “Recent reviews have blown dust from old reports of pre-Colombian coconuts in Panama and demonstrated how the rate of germination distinguishes the naturally selected wild coconut from the domestically selected sort. This review formulates a hypothesis which could identify a previously unconsidered route along which the primordial coconut might travel between the South American and Indian tectonic plates without being indigenous on either.” That is, atoll-hopping.
- Differentiation between fiber and drug types of hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) from a collection of wild and domesticated accessions. Must have been fun doing the evaluation.