I heard about this last week when I was at NBPGR in New Delhi, but it’s quite surprising to see it in the popular press. Just goes to show how important mango is in India. With funding from the Sultanate of Oman, the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) is going to produce a catalogue of all the mango varieties of the world. Sounds like a monumental enterprise. But, given the news lately about loss of varieties, very timely. Hope the wild relatives will be included.
Nibbles: Grains, Cuba, Wine, Raspberries, Film, Bio-char, European market regulations
- Perennial grains need your help.
- “In Cuba no one is helpless or dying of hunger.”
- Biodiversity in wine champion. But what about other cultivated species?
- “It’s called Ukee and it is a very special red raspberry“. Jeremy says “BTDTGTTS.”
- A sceptic evaluates “Food, Inc.”. Jeremy says “we shall see”.
- “I hope that the charcoal fever passes and the zealots and rent seekers move on to the next big fantasy”. May they pyrolize in Hell.
- Welcome, “curly cucumbers, crooked carrots and mottled mushrooms“!
Chicks on film
Through interviews and reenactments, The Natural History of the Chicken investigates the role of the chicken in American life and tells several remarkable stories.
Via.
New LEISA mag online
A new edition of LEISA magazine is online, with it’s usual eclectic selection of articles, this time dedicated to the farmer as entrepreneur. It isn’t the most user-friendly site, but we did a bit of work and singled out a few articles.
- Building a community seed bank.
- Marketing a diversity of fruit products.
- High altitude rice in Rwanda.
- The UN’s “new” approach to agriculture.
Anything else you think we should link to specifically?
BBC’s Farm Swap is online
That BBC radio documentary about farmers trying to learn from each other is out at last.
In Farm Swap, Mike Gallagher meets two farmers who are working outside their own countries.
They are both prepared to experience a new environment but for very different reasons.
You can listen online or download a podcast.
In part one Pedro, an idealistic young Ecuadorian farmer, visits Hawaii…
During his 4 month visit to Hawaii, Pedro visits a coffee plantation and learns how to encourage sustainable agriculture.
But as well as discovering new farming techniques and sharing experiences to take back to Ecuador, what can Pedro teach Hawaiian farmers in return?
As I said before, I think farmer-to-farmer exchanges are potentially a great way to learn. I’ll be tuning in.