- Blaming organic agriculture for Sri Lanka’s woes is a little…simplistic.
- Deriding food localism as luddite is a little…simplistic. I wonder if there will be a rural re-exodus in Sri Lanka.
- Pigeonpea is back on the menu in Malawi. Organically produced, no doubt.
- Will it be closely followed by sorghum and millet in Zimbabwe?
- Brazil puts together a vanilla collection. Because you can only go so far on sorghum and pigeonpea.
- Meanwhile, “…China Has Become the World’s Largest Funder of Agricultural R&D,” displacing the US. Including local and organic ag, pigeonpea and sorghum? I wonder…
- Looks like jujube might be an example of US-China collaboration on ag research. Maybe.
Brainfood: Rice domestication, Roman wine, Dog domestication, Earth ovens, Forest orchards, Saffron origins
- The Fits and Starts of Indian Rice Domestication: How the Movement of Rice Across Northwest India Impacted Domestication Pathways and Agricultural Stories. While cultivation of (indica) rice in South Asia began in the Ganges around 6500 BC, its domestication really speeded up 3000 years later in the Indus.
- Archaeobotanical and chemical investigations on wine amphorae from San Felice Circeo (Italy) shed light on grape beverages at the Roman time. In the second century BC the ancient Romans may have traded a medicinal wine made from wild or semi-domesticated grapevines. I wonder how it would have gone with a nice risotto.
- Grey wolf genomic history reveals a dual ancestry of dogs. Either dogs were domesticated independently in E and W Eurasia and then the two lineages merged, or they were domesticated in the E and then there was geneflow from wild dogs. Sounds a bit like rice actually. ((No, really, check it out. Japonica gets domesticated in one place, then taken to another place where it gets into geneflow with indica, which is being domesticated elsewhere. Only difference is that 2 different wild species are involved, rather than just a single wild wolf species. Also maybe echoes of what happened in tomato too?))
- Bulbs and Biographies, Pine Nuts and Palimpsests: Exploring Plant Diversity and Earth Oven Reuse at a Late Period Plateau Site. For 2000 years Native Americans returned to specific food processing sites dug into the soil to cook up a storm. No word on the use of wild grapevines.
- Coupled archaeological and ecological analyses reveal ancient cultivation and land use in Nuchatlaht (Nuu-chah-nulth) territories, Pacific Northwest. Native Americans nurtured forest gardens to enrich them with edible species. Including wild apples though again not wild grapevines apparently.
- Ancient Artworks and Crocus Genetics Both Support Saffron’s Origin in Early Greece. Ok now everything is in place for a nice risotto alla Milanese with a Falanghina at the House of the Tragic Poet.
Podcasting agricultural biodiversity
Talking of agrobiodiversity-themed podcasts ((Yes, we were, kinda.)), there’s a fun dip into (some of the) history of the tomato over at Historically Thinking. Meanwhile, at Eat This Podcast, Jeremy has embarked on a monumental romp ((Yes, you can have a monumental romp.)) through the role of wheat in world history. Pizza, anyone?
Nibbles: Ag & biodiversity, Sattu, African crops, New rice, Maya religion
- Good roundup of the latest thinking on land sharing vs sparing.
- Hummus is not the only thing to use chickpeas for: you can also make sattu sherbert.
- Africa looks to fonio. Again.
- A new, uniquely high-protein, low-glycemic index rice.
- The Maya Maize God’s sacrifice was re-enacted in a cave. And if you want more background, do listen to this fabulous podcast on the Popol Vuh.
Nibbles: Livestock genebank, Purple grain, Traditional Hawaiian farming
- Call to set up a sheep genebank in Australia. Kinda surprised there isn’t one already, frankly.
- Bringing back purple wheat in the US. Spoiler alert: genebanks were involved.
- Going back to “organized chaos” in Hawaiian farming. There’s probably room for genebanks too, though.