Information

May 28, 2018May 25, 2018

How to help plants species get their mojo back

The Species Recovery Manual is just out, thanks to Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) and the International Association of Botanic Gardens (IABG).

Species recovery involves many different disciplines and actors, and responsibility for it at a national level is often unclear, given that it cuts across different ministries and agencies. After various consultations, it was felt by BGCI and IABG that it would be valuable to produce a manual that would clarify the aims and purpose of species recovery, set out the various steps involved, and indicate good practice. This manual is aimed specifically at conservation practitioners but also includes comprehensive bibliographic references, which enable more in depth reading on the topics covered in this publication. The manual includes chapters and case studies from members of the Ecological Restoration Alliance of Botanic Gardens.

Lots of great advice on everything from planning to seed sampling strategies to community participation.

May 21, 2018November 15, 2018

Brainfood: Czech genebank value, AnGR value, Korea rice core value, Cannabis value, Red rice diversity, Aquaculture trends, Mexican CWR, Rice male sterility, Evidence base, Siberian cheese

Estimating the Value of Crop Diversity Conservation Services Provided by the Czech National Programme for Agrobiodiversity. Willingness-to-pay (WTP) amounts to country-wide benefits of $68 million.
Animal genetic resources diversity and ecosystem services. Traditional breeds make a significant contribution to non-provisioning ecosystem services, but their keepers are often marginalized. Maybe somebody should calculate WTP?
Genome-wide association study reveals candidate genes related to low temperature tolerance in rice (Oryza sativa) during germination. 100 genes on 2 chromosomes, based on data from the Korean core collection.
The Role of Agriculture in Supplying Nutritional, Medicinal, and Recreational Cannabis Products. We need a Green Ganja Revolution, man.
Diversity and population structure of red rice germplasm in Bangladesh. Red rices, actually.
Comparative terrestrial feed and land use of an aquaculture-dominant world. Farming fish spares more land than farming livestock. And is better for you.
A Crop Wild Relative Inventory for Mexico. 310 taxa, 30% endemic.
Genetic analysis of male sterility obtained from a rice cultivar Lebed backcrossed with Taichung 65. You can get it here.
The major barriers to evidence‐informed conservation policy and possible solutions. Convince the public, and the policy-makers will come.
Using PacBio sequencing to investigate the bacterial microbiota of traditional Buryatian cottage cheese and comparison with Italian and Kazakhstan artisanal cheeses. Buryatia is a mountainous Russian republic in eastern Siberia, and they make really diverse cheese there, bacterially speaking.

May 16, 2018May 16, 2018

Wheat landraces centre stage

The program for the 1st International Conference of Wheat Landraces is out and it looks fab. There are about 95,000 wheat landraces recorded in Genesys.

Lots to play around with.

So much variation in #Durum Reference Collection.. how many PhDs will take to study it all? @ICARDA_CGIAR @WheatInitiative @CropWildRelativ pic.twitter.com/SUTCVFkwZJ

— Filippo Bassi (@fillobax) May 15, 2018

May 14, 2018

Farmer’s Pride’s survey

If you are involved in conserving wild or cultivated plant genetic resources in situ or if continued access to plant genetic diversity is important to you, please take 10–15 minutes to complete our survey.

That’s from Farmer’s Pride, a new EU-funded project coordinated by, ironically, the University of Birmingham.

May 14, 2018May 14, 2018

Brainfood: Spanish livestock, IPK forage & wheat, USDA soybean diversity, NERICA/ARICA, Nagoya, Intensification, Greek lentil, Zulu sheep, Kola vs cocoa, African rice farming, Wild foods

Human and ecological determinants of the spatial structure of local breed diversity. The closer Spanish provinces are in demography, ecology, history and geography, the more similar in their livestock breeds.
Enhancing the Sustainable Use of Lolium perenne Genetic Resources from Genebanks in Plant Breeding and Research. The importance of international collaboration illustrated yet again. Material best at different things comes from different countries.
Leveraging the use of historical data gathered during seed regeneration of an ex situ genebank collection of wheat. Accessions should be regenerated at random. From same genebank as above.
Population and quantitative genomic properties of the USDA soybean germplasm collection. 8 major clusters.
Assessment of Genetic Variation and Population Structure of Diverse Rice Genotypes Adapted to Lowland and Upland Ecologies in Africa Using SNPs. Lowland NERICA close to indica, highland NERICA close to japonica.
Do You Conduct International Research? What You Need to Know About Access, Benefit‐Sharing, and the Nagoya Protocol. Quite a lot.
Pasture intensification is insufficient to relieve pressure on conservation priority areas in open agricultural markets. Intensification relieves pressure on land in Africa, but not in Latin America, where it stimulates increased trade.
Genetic diversity analysis of the Greek lentil (Lens culinaris) landrace ‘Eglouvis’ using morphological and molecular markers. 400 years old, quite distinct, and with some variation.
Genetic structure of South African Nguni (Zulu) sheep populations reveals admixture with exotic breeds. Quite variable and not much inbreeding, but gotta watch out the admixture with exotics.
Is kola Tree the Enemy of Cocoa? A Critical Analysis of Agroforestry Recommendations Made to Ivorian Cocoa Farmers. No, but you wouldn’t think it from Big Chocolate recommendations.
‘The Tides Rhyme with the Moon’: The Impacts of Knowledge Transmission and Strong Spring Tides on Rice Farming in Guinea-Bissau. The youth resist.
Wild Foods: Safety Net or Poverty Trap? A South African Case Study. Depends on the season.