Genetic erosion

January 16, 2012May 7, 2024

Early warning system for heritage sites online

A propos of that idea to have a mobile phone app for documenting erosion of agricultural biodiversity. Only fair to say that the Global Heritage Network have a website that records threats to heritage sites. Can the app be far behind?

LATER: Or it did. I can’t get it to work.

January 13, 2012April 10, 2024

Erna Bennett papers

8 September 1971: Erna Bennett receives the Meyer Medal from Ralph Phillips, watched by FAO DG A.H. Boersma.

Thanks to Helmut Knüpffer of IPK Gatersleben, for his comment pointing to two important papers relating to Erna Bennett.

Erna Bennett: Her Career and Convictions and An Interview with Erna Bennett by IS Cunningham provides an insight into some aspects of her personality and drive. (Diversity 5(2 & 3), 60-63, 1989. As with the Ceres article reprinted by The Ecologist, if you do download and skim through the whole issue, you might, like me, wonder what on Earth we’ve all been doing for the past 40 years.)
Award of Meyer Memorial Medal to Erna Bennett of FAO, including Presentation by Dr. Ralph W. Phillips, Miss Erna Bennett’s Acceptance, and Statement by Dr. A. H. Boerma. 1971. (J. Heredity 62(5), 277-279. That one’s behind a paywall, although I reckon snagging the photo above constitutes fair use.)

Helmut also wrote: “I just went to the Mansfeld Library. There are 2292 reprints in the “Reprint Collection Erna Bennett” sorted alphabetically by author and then numbered 1-2292.” Good to know.

And a couple of other links. Grain, the NGO, published its own tribute. Grain’s archives contain a piercing essay from Erna on The Summit-to-Summit Merry-go-Round, which should be on the reading list of everyone with an interest in agricultural biodiversity and the context surrounding its conservation and use.

January 12, 2012January 17, 2014

Nibbles: Beetle diets, Seed hunters, NUS, Food security, Indian malnutrition, Craft Irish beer, Nordic livestock, Prosecco DOC, Artemisia, CGIAR

Predators hunt for a balanced diet. So it’s not just people?
Seeds of High Asia. Saudi Aramco World gives respect to the seed hunters.
Obscure crops and an obscure book. Dorian Fuller gives respect to the neglected.
“For the time being, I genuinely believe we must maintain yield growth, but we need to ensure that we preserve the natural capital for the future.” UK Food Security Czar speaks.
Indian PM mea culpa on malnutrition. Will he listen to the above? Would it help?
Beer in Ireland. Not Guinness. I may be gone some time.
Nordics discuss AnGR and climate change. Successfully, natch.
Prosecco runs to the IPR ramparts.
Video on growing Artemisia to fight poverty.
Help the CGIAR with its tagline. Beyond irony.

January 11, 2012January 11, 2012

Nibbles: Brazil, Canada, Book, Lebanese food, Threatened dispersal, Jeanne Baret, Avinoam Danin

In Mato Grosso, deforestation rates fell as agricultural production rose. I know.
“Imagine Ontario without … a maple leaf.” It’s easy, if you try.
Got a case study in Community Based Adaptation (to climate change)? A book author wants to hear from you. h/t CAPRi.
And here are some case studies on local foods and nutrition, from Lebanon.
BBC reports on an Indian study: Plants at risk from seed dispersal threats. No mention of seed systems, formal or informal, that support agricultural plants.
First woman to circumnavigate the world was a botanizing French herbalist.
Veteran Israeli botanist interviewed, mentions crops wild relatives without actually calling them that.

January 6, 2012January 6, 2012

Nibbles: French seed policy, Coconut, Diversity conservation

Le droit de planter et cultiver librement bientôt interdit? Not new, still important. h/t @plgepts
Or, if you prefer, “French farmers will have to pay to use their own seeds“.
Philippine Coconut Authority promotes value of coconut variety Tutupaen tall for its thick shell.
Payments for Agrobiodiversity Conservation. New Agriculturalist does Bioversity scientist Adam Drucker proud.