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Nibbles: Fiji lab, World Economic Plants, USDA garlic, Breeding conference, Borlaug Summit, Alex Morrell, Hayden Flour

Fiji commissions tissue culture lab to get clean planting materials out to farmers.
World Economic Plants: A Standard Reference finally out. But farmers probably knew all about them already.
Speaking of USDA, here’s what they do to conserve garlic.
Big conference in the UK on Breeding Plants for the Future. Seems like there’s one of these every week these days.
Like at CIMMYT, for example, in remembrance of Dr Norman Borlaug.
“Our germplasm – our genetic base here – is the best in the world. We dominate genetics in the industry.” I’d like to meet a seed industry guy who didn’t say that.
Meanwhile, in Arizona: “We’re not trying to go back in time, but capturing an authentic time.” I’d like to meet this guy. And put him together with the guy above.

Tequila plant is possible sweetener for diabetics. Talk about a waste of raw material.
Would you Adam and Eve it? Women do not own 2% of the land. What next for the killer factcheck?
In related news, teacup pigs are a fraud.
Quinoa to feed the world, in Spanish.
The rice warrior! Isn’t that overegging the pudding just a smidgen?
Learn about plant genetic resources and seeds at Wageningen University.
African Agriculture Technology Foundation “to avail adequate quality seeds at the right time and affordable price”. You might think some of the folks at the AATF should avail themselves of Wageningen’s course.
Tough, flavoursome and bug resistant. Not Richard Markham, but a tomato bred specially for the Solomon Islands he’s talking about.
Kew’s new global kitchen cookbook narrowly avoids being crushed by bandwagon trundling by.
Cover crops are even more valuable than previously thought shock.
Indigenous sheep breeds even more valuable than previously thought shock.

Lots to catch up on, strap yourselves in.
The South’s original peanut is the Carolina African runner, and it is in need of help.
Saudi Aramco World does its usual class number, this time on chili peppers. And, in a similar vein, more than you probably want to know about Tabasco sauce.
The evolution of DNA sequencing. In 76 slides, no less, but worth it.
Japanese rice grown in Uruguay for U.S. hipsters. Gotta love globalization.
Sustainable salmon at long last?
Mind the gender gap.
Latest modelling suggests 2% crop yield decline per decade, assuming modest 2 degree C rise in temperatures by 2050. The original paper. We are so screwed. (Well, Uruguayan rice growers and U.S. hipsters aren’t, not so much.) No, really. No, wait…
You know, if we need supercomputers to tell us that forest corridors are good for seed dispersal, it’s no wonder we can’t stop global warming. Just kidding, I think it’s great that supercomputers get a break from climate models every once in a while. Oh, and isolated trees not entirely useless either.
Native wild bumblebees also in trouble, not just honeybees.
So did you miss us? Even more tomorrow to clear the decks.

Hey, let’s clone a plant!
Agricultural biodiversity in Colombia. Settle down in the back, this is about sustainable intensification.
They’re at it in Nepal too, using community biodiversity management to, er, manage community biodiversity. Here’s how they restored the Rupa lake watershed.
Now all the Nepalese need is for some award-winning Masaai film-makers to share their expertise.

People are ready with their reactions to the Great EU Seed Law Thing.
Bananas seem ready once again for their decadal extinction story.
Those nice people saving crop wild relatives are ready with a new Twitter account to follow.
The wheat diversity of Nepal will soon be ready for science.
And The Boston Globe is ready with its own story about seed libraries.