- Prof. KC Bansal, who used to run the Indian national genebank, gets a much-deserved UNESCO honour.
- Friend-of-the-blog Dr Mike Jackson on running a rice genebank. UNESCO honour for him too?
- Spain’s strawberry genebank gets its 15 minutes.
- University and Native American nation collaborate on regenerating heritage corn varieties.
- The pros and cons of heritage varieties, according to an American farmer.
- Did the ancient Romans have heritage apples?
- Beautifully written piece on the use of heritage varieties — and much else besides — in breeding hazelnuts in the US. If you only read one of these Nibbles, read this one.
- Old shipwrecked rye seeds may end up in whiskey. Best place for them.
- Old Serbian grapevine herbarium samples should stay right where they are.
- Old horses most certainly did not stay where they were. But where was that exactly?
- Not sure where old bottled fruit from Washington’s estate will end up. The DNA lab maybe, like those Serbian grapevines?
- There’s going to be a Worldwide Day of Botanical Art on May 18, 2025. Rejoice.
- Decolonizing food insecurity in West Africa.
Nibbles: China grasslands, Edible lily, Ag data, China potatoes, CIP genebank, Vavilov book, Ghana seeds, Nutrition enterprises, Seed production films, Khoury pod, Relais & Châteaux
- China rehabilitates its grasslands.
- Not content with that, China breeds a new edible lily.
- Not sure what food group lilies are in, but farmers are growing more fruits and vegetables, it seems.
- Still not resting on its lilies, China breeds climate-smart potatoes.
- No doubt CIP and its genebank is helping with that.
- There’s a new book on Vavilov and his genebank. He knew a thing or two about potatoes.
- Ghana is totally on board with the whole genebank thing. And the Dutch are helping.
- Genebanks should hook up with small- and medium-sized enterprises for nutrition. What, not large ones?
- Genebanks also need nice education films on seed production.
- Friend-of-the-blog Colin Khoury interviewed on In Defence of Plants podcast.
- Luxury hotels and restaurants hook up with UNESCO to protect biodiversity. Vavilov would have been so proud.
Nibbles: Tree seeds, Tepary beans, USDA trials, Seed Savers Exchange, China genebank, Nepal indigenous crops, Giant yams, Brogdale, Old apples, AI taxonomy, FEED database, IPBES Nexus report, Business & biodiversity
- Collecting tree seeds properly and respectfully is not easy.
- No word on how easy it is to collect tepary beans respectfully.
- Helping the USDA with their germplasm evaluations, on the other hand, is a breeze. Any tepary beans?
- Seed Savers Exchange makes conserving seeds look easy. Spoiler alert: it isn’t.
- It seems to be very easy to open new national genebanks in China.
- Farming is easier in Nepal with indigenous crops.
- Giant yams don’t look very easy to grow, but that’s not stopping some dedicated Indian women.
- It’s pretty easy — and fun — to visit the United Kingdom’s National Fruit Collection.
- Someone mention apples? Loammi Baldwin knew a thing or two about them.
- It’s going to get easier to identify plants. It says here.
- If you’re looking for interventions or policies to shift diets towards being healthier and more sustainable, your job just got a little easier.
- Likewise if you think the crises of biodiversity loss, water and food insecurity, health risks and climate change should be tackled together.
- Yes, even if you’re a business trying to manage your biodiversity risk you have a right to have it easier. Start by being respectful when climbing trees?
Wild strawberries and other Nordic resources
NordGen is running a great series of weekly webinars on crop wild relatives conservation. You can find recordings of the past three on their website, but I can’t figure out how to sign up for future ones.
LATER: Thanks to Sara for her comment providing the link you’ll need to sign up for future webinars.
Brainfood: Heraclitus, Cocoyam, Pollen, Dry chain, DSI, Global Biodiversity Framework
- Will a plant germplasm accession conserved in a genebank change genetically over time? Sure, change is inevitable, but it can be minimized, and some can be accepted.
- Cocoyam (Xanthosoma sagittifolium (L.) Schott) genetic resources and breeding: a review of 50 years of research efforts. Conventional breeding, based on inducing flowering, is possible, but will require more international exchange of germplasm. I hope someone is saving the seeds.
- Pollen banking is a critical need for conserving plant diversity. Even if it changes genetically over time.
- Applications of dry chain technology to maintain high seed viability in tropical climates. You’ve got to dry your seeds fast and hard. Probably your pollen too, come to that.
- Harmonize rules for digital sequence information benefit-sharing across UN frameworks. The big question is, should there be a single trigger point for monetary benefits, or separate ones for each treaty? At least the sequences do not change over time. But what about if the accessions from which they are derived do?
- Involving citizens in monitoring the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. Yes, let’s get citizens to help us monitor all that change.