Information

September 21, 2021

More Oz seed conservation resources

I’m not sure what their relationship is to the “Strategies and guidelines for developing, managing and utilising ex situ collections” from the Australian Network for Plant Conservation, which we blogged about a few days ago, but the similarly Australian Florabank Guidelines, “15 modules that roughly follow the seed supply chain,” also seem pretty useful.

September 20, 2021September 28, 2021

Brainfood: Food system, Transformation of, Climate change effects on, Pandemic and, Future of, Effect of Green Revolution on, Mesoamerican CWR, Moroccan crop diversity, USA crop diversity, GM, Environmental behaviours

Food systems: seven priorities to end hunger and protect the planet. Oh good, includes “Biodiversity and genetic bases need to be protected. Seed varieties must be preserved, and their phenotypes and genotypes explored in the contexts of climate change and nutrition. Traditional food and forest systems, including those of Indigenous peoples, need to be better understood and supported in national agricultural research systems.” Phew.
Future Changes in Wet and Dry Season Characteristics in CMIP5 and CMIP6 Simulations. The above is just as well because longer hotter and drier spells are coming to the tropics, and crops will suffer.
Global assessment of the impacts of COVID-19 on food security. Plus there’s this too. Resilience has a cost.
The future of farming: Who will produce our food? Smallholders…
When agriculture drives development: Lessons from the Green Revolution. …and that may be bad.
Ok, the above two entries need unpacking. The second paper shows that the “agricultural engine of growth” was totally a thing during the Green Revolution, but the first that it now appears to be broken.
Extinction risk of Mesoamerican crop wild relatives. Oh no, on top of everything else, we might lose avocados and vanilla.
Determinants of Smallholder Maintenance of Crop Diversity in Morocco’s High Atlas Mountains. Markets, land and water. So what would any new Green Revolution do to diversity? Have we learned anything?
Landscape complexity and US crop production. …are positively correlated. For Morocco too, I wonder?
Utilize existing genetic diversity before genetic modification in indigenous crops. At least in Ethiopia.
Compulsion and reactance: Why do some green consumers fail to follow through with planned environmental behaviors? Because some believe in technology, and other is abstinence. Which means they need different messages to encourage them to put their money where their mouths are. Would it work in Ethiopia?

September 14, 2021September 13, 2021

Nibbles: Indigenous plant names, Navajo plant specimens, Vivien Sansour, Canarian papas, GMO chef

The importance of Indigenous plant names.
The Navajo Nation has a herbarium.
A Palestinian seed saver rightfully celebrated.
Ancient potatoes of the Canaries.
Fancy GMOs for dinner? Wait, what?

September 14, 2021September 14, 2021

Fruit portraits

Masumi Shiohara was born in Nagano Prefecture in 1974. He worked as a development engineer at a microfabrication manufacturer. After leaving the company, he took over his family’s orchard from his parents, and is now running the farm. He is also involved in breeding and has developed a number of varieties.

He also takes amazing photos to record the characteristics of the different varieties he grows.

When filing a plant patent application, we keep records to identify each of the varieties and to compare those with other similar varieties. A collection of these records is called a characteristic table. As a fruit farmer and breeder, I continue to use photographic techniques to illustrate all of the important items in the trait table in a single piece of work. My photographs become a form of botanical art.

Art indeed. For a more mundane approach to varietal identification, however, check out these resources on Orchard Notes.

September 13, 2021August 31, 2021

Brainfood: Mapping double, Niche modelling, CGIAR impacts, Pathogen genebank, Data stewardship, Breeding tradeoffs, Organic vs conventional, Agronomic trials, Teff evaluation, Eggplant genetic resources, Quinoa phenotyping

Conservation needs to break free from global priority mapping. Couldn’t agree more. And less.
National climate and biodiversity strategies are hamstrung by a lack of maps. Wait, what?
The evolutionary genomics of species’ responses to climate change. You need to combine niche modelling with genetic adaptation to get the best maps.
Payoffs to a half century of CGIAR research. A benefit-to-cost ratio (BCR) of 10:1. Not counting the genebanks. And all the maps.
A case for conserving plant pathogens. But will it be worth it?
Poor data stewardship will hinder global genetic diversity surveillance. What’s the BCR for decent metadata?
Mitigating tradeoffs in plant breeding. Cutting out the cross-talk changes tradeoff to payoff.
Comparing Productivity of Organic and Conventional Farming Systems: A Quantitative Review. Conventional is more productive. But should yield be the only criterion?
Priority micronutrient density in foods. Right. Micronutrients are also important.
Reconciling yield gains in agronomic trials with returns under African smallholder conditions. And how was yield measured anyway?
Data-driven, participatory characterization of traditional farmer varieties discloses teff (Eragrostis tef) adaptive and breeding potential under current and future climates. This might well be an example of applying the lessons of the above.
Genetic Diversity and Utilization of Cultivated Eggplant Germplasm in Varietal Improvement. The wild relatives will save us.
Quinoa Phenotyping Methodologies: An International Consensus. But will it work for the wild relatives? Just kidding, this is an important development for another crop (with the above) which doesn’t have something like the CGIAR and its 10:1 BCR behind it…