- Hey Luigi, wherever you are, here’s news of another map for you to pour (cold water) over.
- New Scientist on nettles that grow at the back of caves and that may be relict populations. Odd.
- Botanic Gardens Conservation International wants children to design “local” floral garlands for olympic athletes. Taking localism too far? What’s wrong with laurel?
- Journalist explores biodiversity vs food security arguments in Ecuador. It’s still complicated.
- Bifurcated Carrots is kind enough to link to the index for Replies to the Online Consultation on the review of the EU legislation on the marketing of seed and plant propagating material. Now, who’s going to do the analysis?
- FAO’s 1964 view of how agriculture would need to change in the following 20 years. Fifty years on, where are we?
- Not so sweet: the Samurais of Sugar.
- In Chicago next month? Go and see a play based on a book based on the scientists at the Vavilov Institute during the siege of Leningrad. Then write us a review?
Nibbles: Graphic agriculture, Nutrition, Climate change, Giant pumpkins, Economic development, Roman millet, Fairtrade, Jojoba and guayule
- Agriculture 101: A graphic novel. Am I the only one who thinks novels aren’t necessarily true? First installment.
- Bioversity has a bunch of factsheets on Nutritious Underutilized Species.
- Why is a cacao tree not like an ATM? Because the ATM still pays out when its hot.
- Speaking of which, big long thought piece on Food Security and Climate Change.
- Giant pumpkins; not much diversity here, except in the agronomic approaches.
- Better access to markets may threaten specialist smallholder farmers. The case of Namibia.
- Ancient Roman ate lots of C4 photosynthesiser: millet!
- Wake up and smell the lack of green coffee.
- A couple of wannabe Mexican industrial crops get some exposure.
Nice cuppa tea
The National Maritime Museum has a new gallery entitled ‘Trade Routes’ on the East India Company. There’s a couple of really nice associated videos on agrobiodiversity themes: tea and spices. No word on whether opium is in the offing.
Nibbles: Maize, David Douglas, Globesity, Iron-rice rice, Miracle berry, Trout vs cows
- Farmer Brian Schaumburg has planted corn for five straight years in some of the thousands of acres he tends in central Illinois. Good thinking; it’s non-native, and it’s a monoculture.
- Douglas of the Douglas Fir remembered.
- Tom tackles “globesity“.
- Enriching rice with iron and zinc using rice’s own genes. Because they can.
- How Richadella dulcifica works its miracles.
- In the contest between fish and bovine, the outcome is not always certain.
Now that’s what I call a celebration of biodiversity
What goes up, must come down. Alpine farmers who take their livestock to higher pastures in the spring bring them down for the winter. The Human Flower Project shares the celebratory mood.