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February 23, 2013February 23, 2013

Caledonian Tomato!??!?

Today’s agricultural biodiversity mystery:

OK, so I know the quality’s not up to snuff, but I just grabbed this image in my local bar. And I have questions. What on earth is a caledonian tomato? Helpfully, the Italian below offers pomodoro and sapori di Scozia. But could some Italian, preferably, explain to me why Caledonia and the taste of Scotland might have great marketing appeal.

February 21, 2013

Simply awesome vegetable poster

Worth way more than a nibble, which is why it is out here. Run, don’t walk, to Popchartlab’s poster which is:

The most extensive mapping of vegetables ever! We have lovingly illustrated and charted over 400 crops, from Root Vegetables like Potatoes and the Prairie Turnip to lesser-known verified veggies like Courgette Flowers and the Ghostbuster Eggplant to the very many vegetables which are, botanically speaking, actually fruits.

Now, how do we persuade them to go global?

February 20, 2013

Nibbles: Declaration, Students, Grasslands, Organic rice

Fine words from Cordoba: Promising Crops for the XXI Century. Get ’em here.
Got a horticultural problem facing local farmers? Need a US graduate student? Let the Horticulture CRSP Trellis Fund be your matchmaker.
Why conserve grasslands when you could be chasing quick profits in corn and soy?
Texas A&M gets $1M to study organic rice. Would $1million fund side-by-side trials of SRI, organic and paddy?

February 18, 2013February 15, 2013

Brainfood: Understanding conservation, Melon diversity, Brassica viruses, Livestock domestication, Parks and conservation, Intensification, Wild apple, Conservation planning, Pepper diversity, Silene diversity, Connectivity in restoration, Paying for conservation, Dog evolution, Pasture productivity

Four barriers to the global understanding of biodiversity conservation: wealth, language, geographical location and security. Probably not a bad list for agricultural biodiversity either.
SNP genotyping in melons: genetic variation, population structure, and linkage disequilibrium. Two main population, 5 sub-populations, no surprises. Oh hum.
Turnip Mosaic Potyvirus Probably First Spread to Eurasian Brassica Crops from Wild Orchids about 1000 Years Ago. Which corresponds to the expansion of agriculture in Europe as a result of a warming phase.
The Prey Pathway: A Regional History of Cattle (Bos taurus) and Pig (Sus scrofa) Domestication in the Northern Jordan Valley, Israel. Domestication in 8th millennium, preceded by overhunting. And all figured out without recourse to DNA.
The Effects of Isolation and Natural Park Coverage for Landrace In situ Conservation: An Approach from the Montseny Mountains (NE Spain). Do farmers in parks conserve landraces because they are isolated, or because they are in parks? Both, it seems.
Global food demand and the sustainable intensification of agriculture. Doubling in food demand from 2005 to 2050 predicted. Current trends of intensification in rich countries and expansion in not-so-rich bad, moderate intensification everywhere good.
Postglacial recolonization history of the European crabapple (Malus sylvestris Mill.), a wild contributor to the domesticated apple. Differentiation in 3 separate glacial refugia, then expansion and admixture at boundaries.
Testing Surrogacy Assumptions: Can Threatened and Endangered Plants Be Grouped by Biological Similarity and Abundances? No.
Characterization of Capsicum annuum Genetic Diversity and Population Structure Based on Parallel Polymorphism Discovery with a 30K Unigene Pepper GeneChip. The hot ones are more diverse.
Agronomical use as baby leaf salad of Silene vulgaris based on morphological, biochemical and molecular traits. Some populations are nicer than others.
Patterns of contemporary gene flow suggest low functional connectivity of grasslands in a fragmented agricultural landscape. When restoring a species at a site, it is better if the new population is near a large existing population.
Using choice experiments to understand public demand for the conservation of nature: A case study in a protected area of Chile. Visitors willing to pay $2-9 per visit, depending on the ecosystem service provided, which didn’t alas include CWRs.
Y chromosome analysis of dingoes and Southeast Asian village dogs suggests a Neolithic continental expansion from Southeast Asia followed by multiple Austronesian dispersals. Dogs arose independently in SE Asia and displaced older lineages to the N and W.
More Stable Productivity of Semi Natural Grasslands than Sown Pastures in a Seasonally Dry Climate. Over the course of a year that is, presumably due to species diversity. And the odd tree helps towards the end of the dry season. Which is why ICRAF is all over it.

February 18, 2013February 18, 2013

Nibbles: BXW, GMOs, Quinoa, Farm incomes, WIPO, Diverse diets, Agroforestry, Rwanda genebank

Plantwise says you can manage banana xanthomonas wilt; so no need for GMOs?
DG of Bioversity says “adopt transgenic crops carefully and on a case to case basis”.
“You can contribute to the revision of quinoa descriptors”. Is there one for level of threat to indigenous people?
Poor US farmers. “Despite last year’s drought, net farm income in US … will be highest since 1973.” h/t Tom.
“WIPO Instrument on genetic resources and traditional knowledge should reflect developments in international law and policy relating to indigenous peoples.” Course it should.
“[N]otable gains in dietary diversity and increased child health in hundreds of farm communities of Northern Malawi.” Any causal link?
Roger Leakey talks agroforestry.
Rwanda saves seeds.