History

Nibbles: Food security, Food carts, Cotton, Ritual, C4 C3 CC, American Indian diets, Community genebanks in India, Fowler, Dark earth soil, Domestication

German donor examines food and security, notes “the fast loss of biodiversity”.
Food carts are successful oases in at least one food “desert”.
Yesterday’s Botany Photo of the Day was American cotton.
Good news, everyone: “Hardcore farmers prefer lowkey rituals.” Obviously the memo didn’t reach the children of the corn.
Photosynthesis and climate change: it’s complicated.
Native Americans try to reclaim control of their foodways. And their waists.
“…every district should have a community-controlled seed centre with a gene bank for traditional seeds.” Of course it should. “The local available seed diversity needs to be protected and conserved at any cost.” Of course it must.
“Right now, all over the world, projects are underway to store seeds…“
Dark earths not just in Amazon, Africa too.
Presentation on IFAD project on cultivating wild aromatic etc. species for money in Morocco.

Thai king has crop genebank on palace grounds.
Fish in jars.
Planning Plant Clinics.
Plant Breeding for Drought Stress: The Project.
Wait, the Nebraska National Guard has an agribusiness development team? Maybe they should talk to the people responsible for the previous bullet point?
Kids! (And adults!) An Art Contest to celebrate ‘Ulu. Breadfruit, that is.
Use of Agrobiodiversity for Pest and Disease Management. A slide show from Carlo Fadda at Bioversity.
3rd Annual Biodiversity Working for Farmers Tour in Idaho. 23rd June, you have been warned.
Huge New York Times story on plant breeding and climate change.
Bill Gates hails creativity for small farmers challenge.
American ginseng: use it or lose it.
Do you live in Ann Arbour? Do you want native plants for your garden? Yeah but how about American ginseng?

All about the International Treaty on PGRFA.
More, much more, on that climate change hotspots study.
IDRC on climate change adaptation in Africa. Almost nothing on agricultural diversity as a coping mechanism.
Unlike this.
Or this, for that matter. Never knew the Basque country was such a hotbed of potato research.
Or…oh forget it.
What, in the name of all that is happy, is hopniss?
Danone buys some goodwill.
Fairtrade chocolate: this looks like it should be really important. Is it?
So, you say you want to know what plant remains were found in the baskets in Tutankhamun’s tomb?
Bolivian agricultural biodiversity, anyone?

Newly-named urban extremophile fungus survives on angels’ share.
1493. An oldie but goodie. And the book version is on its way.
AVRDC lists the 6 principles of food value chain research.
El cuexcomate, un nuevo blog en español, acerca de “agricultura, plantas útiles, etnobotánica, comida … desde México.” Bienvenido!
Women more interested than men in better-tasting maize. Maybe El cuexcomate will comment.

Sustainable fashion, darling.
“The world’s leading international researchers will review the history of climate change, appraise the current state of the science and identify adaptations for the future.” It says here.
Fiji suddenly discovers yams.
Genebank romance in Durango. Well, that felt good.
Animal Genetic Resources vol 8 is out.
Locavores go crazy on Guam.
Cocoa origins celebrated. And why not?
Seems like every few months there’s something else on how those southern Iraq marshes are being brought back to life. But what I really want to know, and nobody is saying, is if there are any crop wild relatives there.