In situ

Nibbles: Ukraine duplication, Mexican native maize, Andean agriculture double, Campanian crops double, Pacific cryobank, Moringa promotion

A little more safety for Ukraine’s seeds, thanks to a new genebank.
A little more safety for Mexico’s native maize, thanks to Pres. Sheinbaum.
A little more safety for Andean agriculture, thanks to Ecuadorian Indigenous women and Inside Mater in Peru.
A little more safety for Ischia’s zampognaro bean and Amalfi’s lemons, thanks to local people (and GIAHS).
A little more safety for Pacific crops, thanks to cryopreservation. Breadfruit next?
A little more safety for moringa? At least in Africa with all its “opportunity crops”?

Consistent global dataset on biodiversity intactness footprint of agricultural production from 2000 to 2020. Spatial dataset shows how global consumption drives ecological degradation.
Rapid monitoring of global land change. Spatial dataset shows how in 2023 direct human action and fires caused land use conversion globally over an area the size of California.
Remote monitoring of plant drought stress with the apparent heat capacity. Spatial dataset can provide early warning of drought. Early warning system for genetic erosion, anyone?
CropSuite v1.0 – a comprehensive open-source crop suitability model considering climate variability for climate impact assessment. Spatial dataset shows where 48 crops will have the best yields.
Climate change increases the interannual variance of summer crop yields globally through changes in temperature and water supply. Spatial dataset shows that climate change impacts not just yields but variation in yield from year to year for maize, soybean and sorghum.
Reassessing data management in increasingly complex phenotypic datasets. Datasets need to be properly managed to be widely used.

Dr Fiona Hay, seed scientist, on why we need genebanks, including seed banks.
Prof. Richard Ellis retires. A genebank legend, as Fiona would probably agree.
FAO exhibition goes From Seeds to Foods. By way of genebanks, no doubt.
And peasants, of course. No, it’s not a derogatory word, settle down.
Can Green Revolution breeding approaches (and genebanks) help peasants deal with climate change?
Even genebanks need a back-up plan though.
New Mexico genebank helps out Danish chef.
The history of the Concord grape and its foxiness. Chefs intrigued.
The history of Aport and Amasya apples. No foxiness involved, as far as I know. Genebanks? Probably.
The origin of caffeine. Now do foxiness.
Where did collards come from anyway? No, not genebanks. Bloody historians, always re-writing history.

People in the Nejapan Sierra Sur in Oaxaca, Mexico had a seed bank 400-700 years ago so they could re-create their complex cuisine after disruptions.
How MSSRF revived millets in Odisha, India. You think a seed bank was involved?
Meanwhile, in Meghalaya (also India), foraged foods are helping to diversify state-provided school lunches and address chronic malnutrition. Talk about complex cuisine. Are all these species in a seed bank somewhere, though? Do they need to be?
How the National Soybean Germplasm Collection at the Agricultural Research Service lab in Urbana, Illinois helped save soybeans in Iowa.
University breeding programmes are keeping the apple afloat in the USA. That and genebanks.
Farmers and agrotourism are bringing back some cool flavors in Albania. Well, that and the Albanian Gene Bank.
Fish need genebanks too, and Bangladesh is on it. Did ancient Bangladeshis have them, I wonder?