- From fish and bushmeat to chicken nuggets: the nutrition transition in a continuum from rural to urban settings in the Colombian Amazon region. More fish and bushmeat in rural areas compared to towns, where they are considered luxuries. Industrial chicken reaching rural areas, though, and that’s bad for nutrition.
- Comparative genetic diversity in a sample of pony breeds from the U.K. and North America: a case study in the conservation of global genetic resources. Mother and daughter populations of breeds in the UK and US respectively turned out to be somewhat genetically different.
- Do “ancient” wheat species differ from modern bread wheat in their contents of bioactive components? No.
- Marine reserves help preserve genetic diversity after impacts derived from climate variability: Lessons from the pink abalone in Baja California. More protection, more diversity.
- Sources of resistance to eastern filbert blight in hazelnuts from the Republic of Georgia. 79 plants from 34 seedlots out of 1374 seedlings from 50 seedlots. Hard row to hoe.
- Determinants of the intention to purchase an autochthonous local lamb breed: Spanish case study. People are lazy.
- Assessing Genetic Variability for Root Traits and Identification of Trait-Specific Germplasm in Chickpea Reference Set. 23 out of 300 accessions could be useful in breeding for better roots.
- Breeding patterns and cultivated beets origins by genetic diversity and linkage disequilibrium analyses. Fodder and sugar beets grouped together, separated from garden and sea beets, in worldwide genebank collection but not in elite lines.
- Genetic diversity of Italian goat breeds assessed with a medium-density SNP chip. As with so much else in Italy, goat diversity follows a N-S pattern.
- Genomic resources in mungbean for future breeding programs. A couple of reference genomes will make everything easier.
Brainfood: Endophytes, Diet data, Nutrition & agriculture, Japanese Rubus, Hybrid conservation, Iranian cattle, Fat hen complications, Himalayan agroforestry, Gathering moss
- Diazotrophic Endophytes of Poplar and Willow for Growth Promotion of Rice Plants in Nitrogen-Limited Conditions. No doubt this will be touted as The Next Big Thing.
- Assessing global dietary habits: a comparison of national estimates from the FAO and the Global Dietary Database. FAO overestimates grains and vegetables, underestimates beans and nuts.
- Nutrition-sensitive agriculture and the promotion of food and nutrition sovereignty and security in Brazil. Experience suggests that interventions need to be “intersectoral, decentralized and framed in order to allow for institutional coordination.”
- Assessment of genetic relationships among cultivated and wild Rubus accessions using AFLP markers. 15 species and some hybrids between them in Japan.
- Characteristics for evaluating the conservation value of species hybrids. And some of those hybrids may need conserving too.
- Prioritization for conservation of Iranian native cattle breeds based on genome-wide SNP data. Some of the breeds are in trouble.
- The taxonomic riddle of Chenopodium album L. complex (Amaranthaceae). Three ploidy levels and lots of variation in a wild-weedy-domesticated vegetable complex.
- Does agroforestry conserve trees? A comparison of tree species diversity between farmland and forest in mid-hills of central Himalaya. It can be a complement, but never a substitute, for protected areas.
- Sphagnum farming: the promised land for peat bog species? Yes, but do it on degraded peatland, and with long rotation cycles.
Nibbles: German zucchini, Nice tomatoes, Genebank Database Hell, Pakistan genebank, Brachiaria genomics, Haiti agriculture, Chinese potatoes, Green green grass of home, Domestication book, Rudisha returns!
- Deadly zucchini sweep through Germany. Actually just one possible hybrid with ornamental squash, apparently, probably, I’m told by a vegetables expert.
- Everybody loves photos of heirloom tomatoes.
- Sorting out genebank data management at IRRI.
- It’s very tricky to move the Pakistan national genebank.
- Where are the Al-resistance genes in Brachiaria?
- Le jardin créole in Haiti as a model of sustainable agriculture.
- China’s spud revolution. And more.
- Grass is America’s biggest crop. Tell me something I don’t know. What’s that you say? Not that kind of grass?
- Nice excerpt on cats from recent book on domestication by Richard C. Francis.
- The plant-based diets of East African long-distance runners.
Brainfood: Citrus colours, Soil biodiversity portal, Bean genome, Food diversity & security, French landscape diversity, US pigs, Alien crops, Thai food retail
- Exploring the diversity in Citrus fruit colouration to decipher the relationship between plastid ultrastructure and carotenoid composition. New, weird plastids mean new, weird colours.
- Towards a global platform for linking soil biodiversity data. A DivSeek for soils?
- A reference genome for common bean and genome-wide analysis of dual domestications. Not sure how we missed this. Two domestications confirmed, with distinct genomic signatures.
- Variability of On-Farm Food Plant Diversity and Its Contribution to Food Security: A Case Study of Smallholder Farming Households in Western Kenya. No relationship between farm diversity and food security. Say what?
- What is the plant biodiversity in a cultural landscape? A comparative, multi-scale and interdisciplinary study in olive groves and vineyards (Mediterranean France). Low intensity management with an eye to heritage is good for diversity. But, given the above, so what?
- Relationships among and variation within rare breeds of swine. American pig breeds are real. Mostly.
- Alien Crop Resources and Underutilized Species for Food and Nutritional Security of India. Bring them on!
- Traditional, modern or mixed? Perspectives on social, economic, and health impacts of evolving food retail in Thailand. It would be a pity of fresh markets were to disappear.
Nibbles: Plant names, Tomato trifecta, Amaranth, Corn wars, Wild lettuce, Dying, Indian ag, Chocographic, Root symbionts, Rehabilitation, Mesquite, Extreme weather, Saviour plants, Pawpaw, Japanese rice, Coffee museum, Caribbean early ag, Amazonian livelihoods, Vislak on corn
- In praise of common names. Meh. You won’t see a Latin name in this whole Nibbles. See how you like it.
- Building a tomato. In Spanish.
- Tracking a tomato.
- The dark side of tomatoes.
- Amaranth to rescue Mexicans from obesity.
- Seeds of contention.
- Finding the lost Least Lettuce.
- Indigo goes back to the future.
- What if the monsoon fails? MS Swaminathan has some answers.
- Nice chocolate infographic from FAO.
- A diverse microbial community in and around roots helps plants thrive. The Science article is behind a paywall, but there’s a helpful infographic on Twitter.
- The US has a National Seed Strategy for Rehabilitation and Restoration. Vision? The right seed in the right place at the right time. Wish I’d thought of that.
- When otherwise useful trees attack. Ah, the irony of this coming right after the previous one.
- UK’s Global Food Security programme says extreme weather events are increasing and we must adapt agriculture. Good to know.
- And today’s Five Plants That Will Save the World are…
- Maybe add pawpaw to that?
- Japanese rice farmers: change gonna come.
- Nice coffee museum in Brazil.
- Early agriculture in the Caribbean: Cuba and Trinidad.
- The babaçu breakers of Maranhão are under threat. What’s babaçu? Yeah, well, look it up.
- “Seed banking began about 30 years ago as an improvement to individual farmers storing and using their own seeds.” Riiiiight.
- That Vilsak is a card.