Category: Information

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Nibbles: Biofortification, NUS, Wakehurst Place, Cheesy map, Seeds2Zim, Food bibliography, Eucalypt genome, Oregano in the US, CFC, Rotations, Malaria drugs, Quinoa in Colorado, Pacific pineapple, Rhubarb event, Mango festival, Araucaria, American chestnut, Potato casserole, Coffee breeding, Tulips galore, George Harrison Shull, Seed saving, Chinese agriculture, European agroforestry, Eat This Podcast

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Spreading the good genebank news

As I suspected, that “genebanks as morgues” slide that was shown yesterday at the Monogram 2015 meeting at Rothamstead, 1 and was tweeted at the time, was but a rhetorical gambit, a way of framing an argument to the opposite effect. That argument was that thanks to recent advances in genomics and bioinformatics, genebanks are in fact alive and kicking, and more used — and useful — than ever. As indeed is being shown by the subject of the presentation in question, the Seeds of Discovery project at CIMMYT. I’m glad that’s settled.

But it is interesting to ponder the power — and danger — of rhetorical devices, in an era of 140-character textbites. I mean, it’s a perfectly valid strategy in a fifteen-minute presentation to develop the argument that genebanks are being assiduously mined by breeders for all kinds of useful alleles by opening with the admittedly occasionally-voiced accusation that they are nothing but museums — or worse, morgues. I confess I may well have used such a strategy myself, on occasion. It is a potent way of getting the audience’s attention.

But you do need those subsequent fourteen minutes to make the case, and those in your audience who are so inclined may well remember, and repeat, the accusation more readily and forcefully than the clinching counter-argument. Some, indeed, may start to wonder whether genebanks were basically moribund in the past, and have been brought back from the brink by things like high-throughput genotyping and the associated bioinformatics. Gene-jockeys to the rescue! Whereas in fact breeders have been using genebanks since they began, just in different ways, and must have found them useful, or how would they have survivedY No doubt in twenty years’ time, the way we make use of genebanks now will make them look like intensive care wards. And goodness knows how many characters we’ll have at our disposal to talk about it.

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Promoting the sweet potato in Africa

Good to see the March edition of Hortinews magazine focusing on the sweetpotato in Africa. 2 I found it a little difficult to navigate the feature online, although you can also just download the whole issue as a pdf, so let me link directly to two stories on orange-fleshed sweetpotatoes (OFSP):

Now, a lot of effort has gone into developing and disseminating OFSP in parts of Africa, and their potential importance in addressing vitamin A deficiency is not disputed. However, not everything has gone totally smoothly. As an IDS report, coincidentally also just out, points out:

Donor-funded initiatives have played a central role in developing all stages of the OFSP value chain, with a particular focus on breeding new varieties that appeal to the preferences of both producers and consumers. Development projects have also supported the dissemination of planting materials and funded public awareness campaigns. However, information collected for this case study suggests that, so far, interventions have not achieved widespread uptake of OFSP. Only a small minority of farming households in intervention districts grow OFSP. 3 Commercial farmers who supplied OFSP planting materials to project distribution systems have found that, after project funding ended, the local market was not viable, and have ceased production. Meanwhile, awareness of and demand for the crop among consumers have been very limited; one survey conducted in an intervention district found that only 2 per cent of households consumed OFSP. Traders and food processors report that there is little demand, and dealing with the crop is not profitable. This state is perhaps unsurprising given that the introduction of OFSP is still relatively recent, that project efforts have been relatively scattered and uncoordinated, and that there has been little focus on commercially viable value chains. Yet the challenges encountered in Tanzania provide important lessons for other agriculture-nutrition initiatives.

But no need to panic, all is not lost. It’s still relatively early days yet, and the report also makes some sensible recommendations to turbo-charge adoption:

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I think it would have been useful, as well as fair, for Hortinews to point out what still needs to be done, as well as what has been achieved. But maybe that doesn’t sell glossy magazines.