Genetic erosion

June 28, 2017June 28, 2017

Maize for Haiti; but from Haiti?

Good news for hard-pressed Haitian farmers.

The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) has grown 150 tons of renewed, improved maize seed that will be sent to Haitian farmers to help jump-start the country’s seed sector, improve local food security and decrease malnutrition. This will be the largest seed shipment to any country in CIMMYT’s history.

But are there any maize landraces left in Haiti that this much-needed effort will displace? If so, it will be important to collect them. Genesys lists 78 landraces from the country, most at the genebank of CIMMYT itself, collected thus:

Maybe enough. Maybe not…

June 26, 2017July 10, 2017

Nibbles: IPR handbook, People’s food, Open seeds, Club apples, Comms, Indian mangoes, Chili history, Bitter cassava, Better yams

IPR for indigenous peoples.
A People’s Food Policy released today.
Free the Seed! A sort of example of the above?
Are club apples a sort of example of the above?
Historical mangoes are disappearing in Hyderabad. If only they’d been, you know, protected.
The origin of spicyness in (some) chilis.
The downside of cassava in Venezuela.
The upside of better seed yams in Nigeria.
Ag comms: don’t be an eagle or a chicken. I’m a parrot, myself. Circumspice.

June 18, 2017June 18, 2017

Brainfood: Maize regeneration, Watkins collection, Jordan barley landraces, CWR in Europe, Early agriculture, Papaya knowledge, Cryo, Tree diversity, AM, Indegee, Wild beet, Early NE ag, Fire!

Ex-situ conservation of maize germplasm from different latitudes. You can do it, but not without some genetic changes.
High density genotyping of the A.E. Watkins Collection of hexaploid landraces identifies a large molecular diversity compared to elite bread wheat. There’s plenty of interesting variation there, as you’d expect.
Changes in barley (Hordeum vulgare L. subsp. vulgare) genetic diversity and structure in Jordan over a period of 31 years. No significant changes in the amount of genetic diversity in landraces collected in 1981 and in 2012, but later samples more homogenous and less locally distinct.
Crop wild relatives range shifts and conservation in Europe under climate change. We’ll need genebanks.
Isotope evidence for agricultural extensification reveals how the world’s first cities were fed. By opening up new land, basically, and never mind the fancy agronomic practices.
Can the Introduction of Modern Crop Varieties in their Centre of Origin Affect Local Ecological Knowledge? A Case Study of Papaya in the Yucatan Peninsula. Yes, and not in a good way.
Cryopreserved storage of clonal germplasm in the USDA National Plant Germplasm System. It really is a system.
A meta-analysis of molecular marker genetic datasets for eastern Africa trees supports the utility of potential natural vegetation maps for planning climate-smart restoration initiatives. But you still have to do the trials.
Global Diversity and Importance of Mycorrhizal and Nonmycorrhizal Plants. 72% of vascular plants have them.
Factors associated with agrobiodiversity conservation: A case study on conservation of rice varieties in Barak valley, Assam, India. More connections means more varieties.
Crop wild relative populations of Beta vulgaris allow direct mapping of agronomically important genes. Genotyping and phenotyping of 189 wild plants along a 10 km transect allows identification of disease resistance gene in the crops.
Near Eastern Plant Domestication: A History of Thought. The punctuated-centric view is better, according to Occam.
Fire and plant diversity at the global scale. They’re correlated, or at least associated.

June 11, 2017May 22, 2017

Brainfood: Arracacha diversity, Mediterranean diet, Asian sheep & goats, Alpine flax, Breeding efficiency, Models, Domestication & seed size, Palm uses, CC & production, Insecticide & diversity

Assessment of genetic relationships between cultivated arracacha (Arracacia xanthorrhiza Bancr.) and its wild close relatives in the area of domestication using microsatellite markers. Lots more variation in the wild, natch.
Exploring Relationships between Biodiversity and Dietary Diversity in the Mediterranean Region: Preliminary Insights from a Literature Review. There has been an increase in dietary diversity, but of the wrong sort of diversity.
Special issue Of Small Ruminant Research on “Genetic diversity of small ruminants in Asia”. From the Punjab Urial sheep to the goats of Myanmar.
Genetic diversity of flax accessions originating in the Alpine region: a case study for an ex situ germplasm evaluation based on molecular marker. Past genebank conservation hasn’t been perfect.
Enhancing genetic gain in the era of molecular breeding. It all starts with genetic variance. Hello, genebanks!
Crops In Silico: Generating Virtual Crops Using an Integrative and Multi-scale Modeling Platform. Factor in gene editing and goodbye genebanks.
Unconscious selection drove seed enlargement in vegetable crops. And not only vegetables, cereals too. But remember African rice?
Palm economic and traditional uses, evolutionary history and the IUCN Red List. Globally, the more threatened palms are the less used.
Impact of Climate Change, Weather Extremes, and Price Risk on Global Food Supply. The effect is not just on production, but also price.
Identifying the landscape drivers of agricultural insecticide use leveraging evidence from 100,000 fields. In Kern County, California, crop diversity decreases insecticide us. But…

June 5, 2017June 5, 2017

Genetic erosion statistic in the dock

Colin is pissed:

Or, to put it more succinctly, stop complaining and propose something better!

Something better than

“In the past century, the number of crops and their varieties, and the genetic diversity within them, has declined as a general trend in farmers’ fields around the world.”

to be precise. Which is in turn supposed to be better than the 75% genetic erosion number, which is a fake statistic whose origin Cary Fowler points out in another comment.

Ok, I’m game, give me a few days.

And meantime, thanks for the meme.