- Our latest link. Mas du Diable in France.
- The history of mango in Florida discussed.
- Historic poultry publication.
- Did I hear somebody say English apples are not very interesting? Via.
- A wheat crop grows in Manhattan.
- Hands-on aquaculture.
- Animal farm.
Nibbles: Worms, Cowpeas, Vavilov, Asian carp, Genebanks, Cassava
- DNA splits earthworms. Not many people hurt.
- Cookin’ up a mess of field peas. Not many people hurt.
- Talking about N.I. Vavilov at the NAL. I know, I know. He embodies a discredited and outmoded paradigm. But still.
- “I got hit in the back once,†said Mr. O’Hara. “It left an imprint of a fish.â€
- How Stuff Works: new one on genebanks; old one on seed banks.
- Cuba promotes hurricane-resistant cassava variety.
Compare and contrast
Sure, we live in a globalized world, a global village. Recent events in the financial markets are somewhat painful reminders of that. But that doesn’t mean things are the same everywhere, or even going in the same direction. High(er) altitude farming is alive and well in Nepal, as Jeremy just noted. But on its way to extinction in England. Better irrigation is boosting rice yields in Cambodia. While karez wells are being abandoned in Afghanistan. That’s one reason why I don’t believe the genetic erosion meta-narrative. There is always an exception. And although you can sometimes see the world in a grain of sand, it’s better to look at the beach.
Calling Colorado State University locals
Rebecca Nelson, who researches improving disease resistance in crops, will be the speaker at the ninth annual Thornton-Massa Lecture at Colorado State University at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 13, in the Lory Student Center Theatre. Her topic is “Science vs. Hunger: The Challenges of Funding Research in International Agriculture,” and it would be great to get a report here.
Reflections on Barcelona
Danny Hunter has some thoughts on whether IUCN takes agricultural biodiversity seriously over at his Rurality blog. IUCN has been meeting in Barcelona, and Danny was there telling everyone about the Crop Wild Relative Global Portal. The money quote:
There still appears to be a massive disconnect between the global conservation and agrobiodiversity communities.
LATER: There is, of course, no consideration of agriculture in the latest work on Key Biodiversity Areas, apart, that is, from seeing it as a threat.