Genetic erosion

Nibbles: New drug, Bees, Blood oranges, Dahi, Melaku speaks, So does Rajiv.

A drug company is almost ready to go with a pain reliever from the Peruvian rainforest, based on Acmella oleracea, “also known as toothache plant”. Clues, wherever you look.
Why biodiverse beehives do better. It’s partly down to biodiverse bacteria.
Producing blood oranges anywhere. I’ll enjoy my Sicilian ones more, now I know why only some are bloody.
A hymn to the diversity of fermented milk products.
Interview with Melaku Worede of Ethiopia; “we are still losing diversity at an alarming rate”.
Rajiv Shah, administrator of USAID, explains what it is all about.

GRAIN found and shared a 1986 Canadian documentary that includes interviews with Erna Bennett.
“Critical minds and ‘vegetal life’.” Plants and philosophy. Wacky, yes. But perhaps of interest.
Are you near Port Townsend, WA? Go hear a lecture on “Farming with Nature: Agroecology for the Olympic Peninsula” on Monday at 7.30.
While the EU potentially gives diversity a break, the US judge rejects organic suit against Monsanto.
Open sesame (yeah, I know). Oxfam documents how best to use sesame to lift Ethiopians out of poverty.
Nominate someone who has “made outstanding contributions for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity at global, regional or local levels” for the Midori Prize. We’re available.
The Atlantic and NPR do the Svalbard thing. Gotta hand it to the Trust.

NERICA shmerica.
Did you know that the Society for Advancement of Breeding Research in Asia and Oceania (SABRAO) 12th Congress from 13-16 January 2012 in Chiang Mai, Thailand. No, neither did I.
Whither wild wheat?
Koraput and its agrobiodiversity, including aus rice, makes it on the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS).
GBIF has many duplicates. I’m shocked. Shocked, I tell you.
Amazonia was densely populated. No it wasn’t. Yes it was. No it wasn’t.

Modelling chestnut biogeography for American chestnut restoration. As all 7 species have very similar climatic niches, if you could get a blight-resistant hybrid, it would probably be adapted to North American conditions.
Ex situ conservation programmes in European zoological gardens: Can we afford to lose them? No, and therefore the EU needs to step in. Whoa, talk about a non sequitur.
The Fine Scale Ethnotaxa Classification of Millets in Southern India. Malayali farmers can consistently recognize more phenotypes than DNA analysis, and some of the cryptic landraces might be really useful.
Diversity of cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) cultivars and its management in the department of Bouenza in the Republic of Congo. High, but decreasing, at least in some villages. But overall? Any collections made?
Indigenous agroforestry in a changing context: The case of the Erumanen ne Menuvu in Southern Philippines. Despite being divinely-sanctioned, the pengegnewiran swidden system is changing, in response to socio-economic changes. It needs to, and blaming the people because you don’t like the result is not very helpful.
Variation in biochemical composition of baobab (Adansonia digitata) pulp, leaves and seeds in relation to soil types and tree provenances. Soil has a big effect. At least in Benin.
Comparing silvopastoral systems and prospects in eight regions of the world. They’re all going to need more active management.

Higher maize yields? Plant cover crops between the rows.
Barley tempeh! My kind of food exploration.
Danny Hunter impresses Irish Times with need to conserve biodiversity.
UK devotes millions to research for “bigger yields of better quality fruits and vegetables”.
Germans embrace high-tech urban agriculture — cautiously.
Put farmers’ markets near medical centres for added benefits. What happens when everyone’s so healthy they don’t need the doctor?