- Quality management in a genebank environment: Principles and experiences at the Centre for Genetic Resources, The Netherlands (CGN). Do we need a certification system for genebanks? We do have the means to put one together.
- A pragmatic protocol for seed viability monitoring in ex situ plant genebanks. But will genebank certification allow much-needed flexibility?
- Genotyping Genebank Collections: Strategic Approaches and Considerations for Optimal Collection Management. Or will it make everyone genotype everything?
- Assigning Species Names to Ambiguous Populations in the US Potato Genebank. Oh, you want an example of why everyone should genotype everything?
- The FLAIR-GG federated network of FAIR germplasm data resources. For sure it should require data to be FAIR.
- The EURISCO-EVA Information System, an innovative approach to the data management of multi-site crop evaluation data. Even evaluation data, though? That usually comes from genebank partners, not the genebanks themselves. Wouldn’t that be a problem?
- A case study on lentil to demonstrate the value of using historic data stored in genebanks to guide the selection of resources for research and development projects. Oh, you want an example why evaluation data should be included in (or linked to) genebank documentation systems?
- Indian cryogenebank conserving diverse plant genetic resources for the last three decades: Achievements and way forward. Is it certified, though?
- Share a Tiny Space of Your Freezer to Preserve Seed Diversity. Meanwhile, at the other end of the technology continuum…
- Applications of dry chain technology to maintain high seed viability in tropical climates. If your freezer is in the tropics, think about handling your seeds this way. And maybe you’ll get certified :)
- Insights from a century of data reveal global trends in ex situ living plant collections. Maybe botanic gardens should be certified too, presumably. Would it have made a difference? Actually, now I think of it, does this mean the system as a whole needs to be certified? Anyway, good thing the data were FAIRish.
- A framework for long-term environmental monitoring using living plant collections in botanic gardens: A global review and case study from Trinity College Botanic Garden. Another example of the benefits of FAIR evaluation data. And of botanical gardens.
- Sustainable high-yield farming is essential for bending the curve of biodiversity loss. And genebanks (and maybe botanical gardens too, why not?) are essential for sustainable high-yield farming. Certify that.
Nibbles: Genebanks in South Africa, Ethiopia, Cherokee Nation, China, India, The Netherlands…
- South Africa ratifies the Plant Treaty. Hope its genebank goes from strength to strength.
- Ethiopia ratified a long time ago, and its genebank is going strong.
- Wouldn’t it be nice if the Cherokee Nation could ratify the Plant Treaty?
- Want to build a community genebank like the Cherokee Nation’s? Here’s a resource.
- China hasn’t ratified, but that hasn’t stopped it building genebanks.
- And using their contents, presumably.
- India has ratified, and is also building genebanks.
- The Netherlands ratified long ago, but I’m not sure if it has a water lentil (duckweed) collection, or if it does whether it’s in the Plant Treaty’s Multilateral System. But maybe it will, and it will be, soon. I hope so.
- The Dutch also have an animal genebank, BTW.
- Watermelons are not in the Plant Treaty’s Multilateral System, but maybe they should be.
- Neither is Trigonella, though many other temperate legume forages are, so who knows.
Brainfood: Maroon rice, Dutch aroids, Sicilian saffron, Inca agriculture, Native American agriculture, Mexican peppers, Afro-Mexican agriculture, Sahelian landraces, Small-scale fisheries, Coconut remote sensing
- The Mystery of Black Rice: Food, Medicinal, and Spiritual Uses of Oryza glaberrima by Maroon Communities in Suriname and French Guiana. There’s a rich oral history of African rice in Maroon communities, but that doesn’t mean either the traditional knowledge or diversity of the crop is safe.
- The Invisible Tropical Tuber Crop: Edible Aroids (Araceae) Sold as “Tajer” in the Netherlands. Another example of traditional knowledge on crops surviving far from their home.
- Rethinking Pliny’s “Sicilian Crocus”: Ecophysiology, Environment, and Classical Texts. There might have been two distinct saffron species in ancient Sicily. Another way of recovering traditional knowledge is by reading ancient texts.
- Trees, terraces and llamas: Resilient watershed management and sustainable agriculture the Inca way. The sedimentary record can be used to recover traditional knowledge too. No word on what ancient text have to say, but I’m sure it’s something.
- Yield, growth, and labor demands of growing maize, beans, and squash in monoculture versus the Three Sisters. Sometimes traditional knowledge can use a helping hand from scientists. And vice versa.
- Interdisciplinary insights into the cultural and chronological context of chili pepper (Capsicum annuum var. annuum L.) domestication in Mexico. About the only thing that’s missing here is traditional knowledge.
- Afro-Indigenous harvests: Cultivating participatory agroecologies in Guerrero, Mexico.
Makes one wish these authors had been involved in the pepper study above. - Tradeoffs between the use of improved varieties and agrobiodiversity conservation in the Sahel. The effect of improved varieties on local landraces (and presumably associated traditional knowledge) is different for pearl millet and groundnut, and for Mali and Niger.
- Illuminating the multidimensional contributions of small-scale fisheries. I’m sure lots of traditional knowledge is involved.
- Satellite imagery reveals widespread coconut plantations on Pacific atolls. They could have just asked the small-scale fisherfolk, but ok.
Nibbles: USDA NPGS, Korean seed museum, Endangered plants, National security, Sicilian grapevines, Mike Jackson again
- A way to get free seeds from the US government? Yeah probably not. And if so, maybe not for long?
- Ok, let’s try the Korean government then.
- A way to find endangered plants in the US. And get the government to protect them, of course.
- A way to ensure national security? Why, conserving crop diversity of course. Government unavailable for comment.
- A way to ensure the future of Sicilian wine? See above.
- A genebanker looks back on the 1990s. And, given all of the above, sees that not much has changed?
Rounding up the breadfruit
Jeremy’s latest Eat This Newsletter has a piece on Dumbarton Oaks’ Plant of the Month feature on breadfruit. And much else besides. Do have a look. In contrast to Jeremy, I myself have knowingly eaten breadfruit, in various forms. It makes pretty good chips. I’ve also blogged about it here — a lot.
Breadfruit’s Bounty
Dumbarton Oaks is a beautiful building, museum, library and garden in Washington DC and I have often linked to its Plant of the Month features. This month’s is breadfruit, and well worth exploring. I’ve never knowingly eaten breadfruit, though I have tasted its close relative jackfruit, and yet one thing I know about it is that it was at the heart of the Mutiny on the Bounty. The British government tasked Captain William Bligh with transporting breadfruit seedlings from their home in the Pacific to the Caribbean, where it was hoped the trees would provide cheap food for enslaved people on the sugar plantations. Then it gets complicated.
There’s a lot to savour in the story of breadfruit’s enforced migration from its origins in the Pacific to the plantations of the Caribbean and the lasting impacts there. The article brings all these facets out with (occasionally clunky) links to images, maps and cooking videos.