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March 13, 2012March 13, 2012

Waxing lyrical about heirloom grains

Yes, of course this is a self-indulgent bit of film. But fun for all that. They’ve tried to pack too much in — does everyone out there watching actually know what Carolina Gold is, or recognise those panicles? — and at times fitting it all in works against clarity. I got very distracted trying to see whether the chef’s tattoo was what I thought it was. And it was.

Found it here.

March 13, 2012March 13, 2012

Nibbles: New drug, Bees, Blood oranges, Dahi, Melaku speaks, So does Rajiv.

A drug company is almost ready to go with a pain reliever from the Peruvian rainforest, based on Acmella oleracea, “also known as toothache plant”. Clues, wherever you look.
Why biodiverse beehives do better. It’s partly down to biodiverse bacteria.
Producing blood oranges anywhere. I’ll enjoy my Sicilian ones more, now I know why only some are bloody.
A hymn to the diversity of fermented milk products.
Interview with Melaku Worede of Ethiopia; “we are still losing diversity at an alarming rate”.
Rajiv Shah, administrator of USAID, explains what it is all about.

March 12, 2012March 12, 2012

Nibbles: Pharaonic gardens, Ironic bananas, Workshopped access, Seed Swap, Forgotten foods

See Gardens of the Pharaohs at the Dutch National Museum of Antiquities from 27 April to 2 September.
Iron-deficiency anaemia? Engineer a banana!
Eldis shares details of a workshop on access and benefit sharing under the International Seed Treaty.
A hugely successful Seedy Sunday in Amsterdam. Call the Seed Police!
The BBC remembers Forgotten Foods. No, not NUS.

March 12, 2012March 14, 2012

Brainfood: Beans, Potatoes, Lettuce, Agave, Gaming, Mangroves, Ancient millets, Ancient missions

Mesoamerican origin of the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is revealed by sequence data. Revealed is kinda strong isn’t it? This from a bean expert of my acquaintance: “Yes, we knew that, as it seems to be the case of all species of the Phaseoli section. They could have done a bit better in including the 2 populations of Cordoba mountain, in order to see whether these belong to the first migration to the Andes, or the second one. Wild vulgaris from western Panama, or Venezuela, could have helped in this regard too. We have shown years ago that the complex genetic structure in Mexico and in Colombia is the result of these floristic migrations combined with gene flow events because beans cross among themselves.”
The Enigma of Solanum maglia in the Origin of the Chilean Cultivated Potato, Solanum tuberosum Chilotanum Group. These are long-day adapted and therefore crucial to the history of the potato in Europe. But the various sorts of evidence looked at to investigate their relationship to the rare Chilean wild relative S. maglia just do not agree. Bummer.
Wild and weedy Lactuca species, their distribution, ecogeography and ecobiology in USA and Canada. So Iowa is a wild lettuce hotspot. If you’re interested in the germplasm, it’ll be in the genebank of Palacký University in the Czech Republic.
Sustainability of the traditional management of Agave genetic resources in the elaboration of mezcal and tequila spirits in western Mexico. Tequila industrial agriculture should learn from the traditional kind.
Fate of the World: computer gaming for conservation. Worth a try. No, really.
The Economic Value of Mangroves: A Meta-Analysis. You might think there would be a value in the abstract; you would be wrong.
Early millet use in northern China. That would be Setaria italica and Panicum miliaceum, and new evidence from ancient starch grain on pottery and grinding stones found in archaeological sites has pushed back their cultivation in N China by 1000 and 2000 years respectively, to about 9500-7500 BC. The Archaeobotanist has more, as ever.
Digitization and online availability of original collecting mission data to improve data quality and enhance the conservation and use of plant genetic resources. They’re there (and here; what’s up with that?) to consult and make use of if you want.

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March 9, 2012March 9, 2012

Nibbles: Gene, Database, Climate Change, Nutrition, Archaeology, Website, Prices, Svalbard

Today’s maybe we’ll get some coverage if we link it to hunger and famine press release. Petunia gene.
Today’s there’s a database for that announcement. FAO’s Horticulture Cultivars Performance Database.
Today’s impact of climate change on X report. Forest resources in the Caribbean.
Today’s debunking a crappy piece of nutrition research killjoys. Experts respond to nutrition claims.
The Archaeobotanist has been going great guns; new book on domestication and millet domestication. We’ll pass on the museum post till we can firm it up.
IFPRI says let two flowers bloom. Here’s the super-groovy new policy kid on the block for non-policy wonks.
I’ll see your evil speculators and raise you a rising secular trend in food prices. (See what I did there?)
With a heavy clunk, The Economist gave Svalbard’s Doomsday Seed Vault a fine 4th birthday present.