“Hand picked…and carefully sorted” is where CABI’s content specialists go to blog. I came across it only when they linked to our water hyacinth story of a couple of weeks back, but it looks like it’s been going since November last year at least. Exploring the plant sciences stuff, I came across two pieces on seed conservation which make an interesting juxtaposition: this entry on indigenous methods of seed conservation in Bangladesh, which includes a CABI video, and this on the Svalbard International Seed Vault. Entries often have links to CABI publications and there is an RSS feed. Really great stuff.
Audible Darwin
It is easy to forget sometimes that The Origin of Species actually starts with a lengthy discussion of genetic diversity in crops, ornamentals, livestock and pets, although of course Darwin doesn’t call it that. He calls it “variation under domestication,” and you can now hear his seminal words, by downloading 24 hours’ worth of audio files from here. There’s a also a link to an e-text of the book.
Improved agriculture in the Sahel
The Drylands Coordination Group recently launched a new web page that offers an entry point into a whole swathe of ways in which agriculture in the Sahel can be improved. Diversification is prominent among them, and the Group says the page will be updated regularly. You can subscribe, by email, but there does not seem to be a RSS feed.
Rice stories
The BBC World Service is broadcasting a series of four programmes on the rice cultures of Asia, called Rice Bowl Tales. Starts 28 February, but if you miss it, it seems like the series has already aired on Radio National, and if you follow the link I’ve just given, you should be able to listen online or download audio files.
Training on plant genetic resources
Wageningen University in the Netherlands is holding a six-week training programme in the conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources. Full details are available on the Wageningen web site, and the closing date is 21 April.