Information

September 6, 2013September 6, 2013

Nibbles: Industrial diversity, Forget feed the world, Vegetable evolution, Housekeeping

Slightly extended, slightly fewer edition

Corn (maize) and soybeans are the bogeymen of industrialised, monocropping agriculture, striking fear into the heart of biodiversity lovers everywhere. But, surprisingly, in the US, more than half the production comes from farms that grow at least two other crops. For real specialisation, you need to look at hay and rice. Big tip of the hat to Big Picture Agriculture for that one.
And yet, corn and soybeans power the rhetoric of “US farmers feed the world,” despite more than 40% of US corn ending up as ethanol. (See what I did there?) Anyway, Margaret Mellon at the Union of Concerned Scientists thinks its time to move beyond that unhelpful phrase. “It is time,” she says, “to separate the issues of hunger alleviation and crop production.” It is way beyond time, I say.
And then there’s this: “More Vegetables Evolving Chocolate-Sauce-Filled Centers As Evolutionary Imperative.”
And we’re feeling an evolutionary imperative to shift this particular parasite to a new host. We’ll be attempting to do so over the weekend. With luck, you won’t notice a think when we resume on Monday. See you then.

September 5, 2013June 27, 2016

There’s an app for Hawaiian breadfruit?

Well of course there is. And pretty nifty is it too.

Take a real or virtual tour around Hawai‘i’s Big Island and learn about the culture and history of the island through stories of the ‘ulu (breadfruit). This engaging and resource rich app includes tour stops of cultural interest, breadfruit recipes, Hawaiian mythological stories, interviews with local cultural practitioners and links to information about how to cultivate and use breadfruit.

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Ho’oulu ka ‘Ulu is a project of the Hawai‘i Homegrown Food Network and the Breadfruit Institute of the National Tropical Botanical Garden. Learn more at: www.breadfruit.info or www.breadfruit.org

September 5, 2013September 5, 2013

Nibbles: Weeds, Poverty, Mycorrhizae, Gluten-free wheat, Vanilla, Different apples, Pashmina wool

Oh dear, someone else has fallen for the “weeds are better for you” line, cautious question-mark notwithstanding.
And guess what? The poor don’t buy nutritious foods. How silly of them.
Great post explaining the great unseen: mycorrhizal fungi as drivers of plant diversity.
Gluten-free wheat? Really (even if the links still don’t work).
What would you video on honeymoon in Mexico? A visit to a vanilla plantation. What else?
Conserving apples and earth apples at opposite ends of the world.
Oh, no, pashmina’s in trouble!

September 4, 2013

Nibbles: CIAT strategy & genebank, Baked beans, Bambara groundnut meet, Malnutrition debate, Bee farming, Pineapple genomics, Sustainable intensification debate

CIAT wants your help with its strategic planning. Read page 4 of the document: “…CIAT proposes to create a new genebank…”
Breeding a better British baked bean. What, again? Or still.
Talkin’ Bambara groundnut blues.
Solutions for micronutrients deficiency, in general and in particular.
Bees and yields take off in Kenya.
Pineapple taste gene identified, spliced into sugarcane, to produce GMO piña colada. Made you look!
Proponents of sustainable intensification are lickspittle lackeys tied to the apron-strings of the military-industrial complex.

September 2, 2013September 2, 2013

Brainfood: Pests & CC, Germplasm pix, Latvian legume rescue, Estonian potatoes, NZ genebanks, Yam polyploids, Tree evaluation, Ethiopian veggie, European seed law, Zulu sheep, Celosia management

Crop pests and pathogens move polewards in a warming world. At 3 km/year.
Systems for making NIAS Core Collections, single-seed-derived germplasm, and plant photo images available to the research community. The next level in genetic resources documentation?
Recovering Genetic Resources of Some Legume Species of Latvian Origin by Plant Tissue Culture. You have to work at it.
Overview of in vitro Preservation of Potato and Use of the Gene Bank Material in Estonia. They like coloured potatoes in Estonia.
The key roles of seed banks in plant biodiversity management in New Zealand. Are many and varied.
Microsatellite and flow cytometry analysis to help understand the origin of Dioscorea alata polyploids. Unreduced gametes did it.
Genetic variation in progenies of Jacaranda cuspidifolia Mart using the fan systematic design. Yon can measure genetic variation and evaluate performance under different spacings at the same time, which is important in a tree.
Diversity analysis in Plectranthus edulis (Vatke) Agnew collection in Ethiopia. As ever, a considerable amount of variability was found. Oh hum.
The European seed legislation on conservation varieties: focus, implementation, present and future impact on landrace on farm conservation. There should be more landraces in the Common Catalogue.
Characterization of Zulu sheep production system: Implications for conservation and improvement. If they’re so drought tolerant, why is drought threatening them? Well, there’s drought, and then there’s drought.
Effects of paraquat on genetic diversity and protein profiles of six varieties of Celosia in South-Western Nigeria. That would be a tasty and diverse local leafy green. Well, before the paraquat anyway.