In situ

April 10, 2012

Multidisciplinary taro book on the way

The National Museum of Ethnology in Osaka has just announced the publication of what promises to be a fascinating book on taro:

M. Spriggs, D. Addison and P. J. Matthews (eds) (2012) Irrigated Taro (Colocasia esculenta) in the Indo-Pacific: Biological, Social and Historical Perspectives (Senri Ethnological Studies 78). Osaka: National Museum of Ethnology. 363 pp., with index.

According to one of the authors, “[t]his map from the preface shows main geographical coverage (areas 1 – 10) of the volume (there is also some extension to China and mainland SE Asia).”

All the chapters will soon be available on the Museum’s website, so keep a lookout.

March 26, 2012February 17, 2014

Brainfood: Dietary diversity, Diversity and diseases, Soil IK, Insect symbionts, Rhizobia, Wild lettuce, Tree genetic erosion, Pre-domestication barley, Strampelli

Relating dietary diversity and food variety scores to vegetable production and socio-economic status of women in rural Tanzania. Dietary diversity was all too often alarmingly low, and when it was it was associated with seasonal fluctuations in the production and collecting of vegetables. But a more varied diet need not necessarily be healthier, so more procedural sophistication will be necessary in follow-up studies.
A risk-minimizing argument for traditional crop varietal diversity use to reduce pest and disease damage in agricultural ecosystems of Uganda. For Musa and beans, more varietal diversity meant less damage and less variation in damage.
Exploring farmers’ local knowledge and perceptions of soil fertility and management in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. Soils which farmers described as being more fertile were, ahem, more fertile.
Population genetics of beneficial heritable symbionts. Of insects, that is. Important because they can confer protection from natural enemies, among other things. They behave a bit, but not entirely, like beneficial nuclear mutations.
Widespread fitness alignment in the legume–rhizobium symbiosis. There are no cheaters.
Genetic polymorphism in Lactuca aculeata populations and occurrence of natural putative hybrids between L. aculeata and L. serriola. Not much diversity in Israel, surprisingly. But isozymes?
Meta-Analysis of Susceptibility of Woody Plants to Loss of Genetic Diversity through Habitat Fragmentation. The standard story — that trees suffer less genetic erosion because they are long-lived — is apparently wrong, even for wind pollinated trees.
Large-scale cereal processing before domestication during the tenth millennium cal BC in northern Syria. “This was a community dedicated to the systematic production of food from wild cereals.”
Nazareno Strampelli, the ‘Prophet’ of the green revolution. Before Norman, there was Nazareno.
The memory remains: application of historical DNA for scaling biodiversity loss. Historical collections of salmon scales reveal many connections between modern evolutionary significant units (ESUs) in the Columbia River and old ones; but also, intriguingly, some differences.

March 23, 2012November 20, 2017

Nibbles: Cassava value addition, African food project, ITPGRFA, Filipino bananas, Plant Cuttings, Seed schools, Refugee gardens, Fisheries double, Cherry blossoms

Projects I should probably know about but had never heard of, no. 37: Cassava: Adding Value for Africa (C:AVA).
Projects I should probably know about but had never heard of, no. 38: African Food Tradition rEvisited by Research (AFTER). Mopane left unvisited, though, alas.
More from the ITPGRFA Secretary Down Under.
From genebank to farmers: bananas in the Philippines.
Things are looking up: there’s a new Plant Cuttings out.
We should all go back to seed school. Hey, just tell me where.
Family gardens for refugees. And for urban folk in Ethiopia.
Learning from the past in order not to repeat it, Vol. 88: Sustainble fisheries. Repeating it anyway, Vol. 565543 coming all too soon. No, wait, here it is…
It’s that time of year again, isn’t it. Spring. Bah, humbug.

March 21, 2012March 21, 2012

Nibbles: Small farmers, Wild bananas, Titan arum, Fish for diversity, Tenure, Treaty, Australian genebank, Mexican genebank, Mexican drought, Potato record, Khat and fodder in Ethiopia

On my signal, unleash the potential of small farmers and food producers worldwide. Has a return ring to it.
More than anyone could reasonably want to know about wild banana relatives in Thailand.
Big stinky flower with its own webcam. Must be a wild relative of something.
Better in many ways to catch a diversity of fish species than to focus on one.
Could probably do with some guidelines for access to fisheries, though, right?
International Seed Treaty secretariat knocks ‘em dead down under. “THREE-quarters of the world’s crop biodiversity has been irrevocably lost since 1900.”
Of course it has. Did Dr Bhatti visit this place during his tour of Oz, I wonder? If not, maybe he’ll visit Mexico next and see this place. And speaking of Mexico…
Mexico sneezes, US grain exports catch a cold?
World record potato harvest in Bihar; there’s a lot that’s fishy about this story.
“Khat cultivation in Ethiopia fuels economy, reduces deforestation.” And makes people sick, but who’s counting.
Ah but here’s a possible alternative. Now, if only CIFOR and ILRI would talk together about this.

March 20, 2012March 20, 2012

Nibbles: Ancient sauce, Easter eggs, REDD and biodiversity

Ancient fish sauce recreated.
Easter egg symbolism deconstructed.
Monitoring biodiversity in REDD projects. Including CWR?