- Tangled Bank 101.
- From ELDIS 1: Farmers in Malawi learn best from one another.
- From ELDIS 2: Improving crop-livestock systems in Ethiopia.
- Nature and Science on the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD).
- Barley makes a come-back? No, it’s not beer-related, Jeremy.
- A call for respect for Nagpur’s agricultural college in its centenary year. Seconded.
- Internets buzzing this morning. Check out a NatGeo video on how organic cacao is saving the rainforest in the Dominican Republic.
- CTA wants one laptop per farmer. Not just to “make better PowerPoints,” though.
American Gothic, 21st century style
Somewhat related to Jeremy’s post just below, there’s an article in the New York Times about young Americans going back to the farm. Or rather, going to the farm for the first time: we’re talking Upper East Siders clambering onto tractors. Would be interesting to see whether the percentage of organic farmers among them turns out to be above the average, and whether they will tend to eschew biofuels and favour weird niche crops, heirloom varieties, and agricultural biodiversity in general. Via Metafilter.
Nibbles: AGRA, Andean potatoes, farmer factsheets, tequila, Dogon, yak milk
- AGRA’s first eight PhD students get to work.
- Papa Andina Regional Initiative assessed by CGIAR CAPrI. Can’t be bothered reading the whole thing? Try this.
- Factsheets for farmers in Kenya and Uganda; Luigi’s MIL not available for comment.
- Tequila for lunch: Jeremy comments: “Wish I could be at this seminar, at the University of California, Davis”.
- Dogon agriculture 101.
- Got yak milk?
Snap a spud, win big
The International Year of the Potato has announced a photographic competition, with big prizes to be won. Details are at the IYP web site, which also sets out all the rules and stuff. I find two things about the competition interesting. Closing date is 1 September 2008. For many places, that means you’ve either already taken the photograph, or you have no plans to photograph a maincrop harvest. And the prizes for professionals — “(people who make their living from photography)” — are bigger than those for amateurs. That doesn’t seem quite right. The competition is supported by Nikon.
And that reminds me, it’s time we wrapped up our own competition …
Nibbles: Donkey, women, bees, databases
- Archaeological evidence of donkey domestication from Egypt.
- Empower women farmers to ensure food security. Sounds like a plan.
- Good reporter visits good bee research centre. Read all about it.
- Genomics blog discovers CGIAR databases, love at first sight.