- Building a better Hayward kiwi.
- Adapting to Nagoya.
- But if the Treaty works, maybe you wont need to. And that includes farmers’ rights, of course.
- The Caucasian Spinach is a new one on me, but I’d try it.
- Eating insects is safe. But I suspect that was never the issue.
- What have patents ever done for us?
- Europe’s forests are in a state. See what I did there?
- Yes, it’s time for this year’s seasonal “wild rice” story.
- The non-meat future of protein.
- Does bread even have a future?
- Well, how would you describe an apple? Maybe by use? In the meantime, Tom “The Appleman” Adams is taking the next step.
- Dog domestication explained.
- Nice map of what climate change will do to crops. Spoiler alert: it’s not good.
- The beauty of seeds.
Hacking potato seed systems
How can Solynta make its True Potato Seeds available to developing countries in a socially and economically responsible way, in order to contribute to feeding the world’s growing and often malnourished population?
Good question. And the subject of a True Potato Seeds Hackathon today. The word has been out since July so I’m sure they’ll get a good turnout of clever students and get the problem licked once and for all. Looking forward to the hearing all about it. As no doubt is Solynta. And CIP.
https://twitter.com/Onderwijsloket/status/641524425502892032
Nibbles: Tomato diversity, Coffee trial, Basque genetics, Water and ag, Heirlooms galore, 3 trillion trees, Agroforestry, Old oats, IP in ag, Food companies and CC, Wheat Initiative, Crop game, Eggplant breeding, E African drought
- One crazy French guy, 1134 tomato varieties.
- The World Coffee Research International Multi Location Variety Trial really gets off the grounds. See what I did there?
- The Basques descend from Neolithic farmers.
- Ancient Sri Lankan irrigation systems. Which Bangladesh doesn’t need.
- National Heirloom Expo is on.
- Did we link to this three-trillion-tree story yet? I don’t think so. How many are edible fruit trees, I wonder?
- …or indeed agroforestry and fertilizer trees. Always worth listening to Jules Pretty.
- So much for the Paleolithic Diet.
- In agricultural innovation, “optimal IPR use depends on the technology itself as well as on market conditions.”
- Multinational food companies found to be short-sighted shock.
- The global impacts of UK food consumption.
- The Wheat Initiative has an agenda.
- Can you recognize these crops? ‘Course you can.
- Eggplant pre-breeding project involving wild relatives makes mainstream media. Faith in humanity restored. Until you see what else is on that page.
- Drought hits Ethiopia. Let them eat sweet potatoes?
Patently broken?
Patents are good for innovation, right? Well…
In 1970 the United States recognised the potential of crop science by broadening the scope of patents in agriculture. Patents are supposed to reward inventiveness, so that should have galvanised progress. Yet, despite providing extra protection, that change and a further broadening of the regime in the 1980s led neither to more private research into wheat nor to an increase in yields. Overall, the productivity of American agriculture continued its gentle upward climb, much as it had before.
From an interesting piece in The Economist on why patents may not be all they’re cracked up to be after all, not least for agriculture.
Nibbles: Conservation genetics, African fish farming, Ecological intensification, Elderly diets, Organic breeding, Conference tweeting, Mexican maguey, African PBR
- Conservation genetics papers from Latin America, courtesy of special issue of the Journal of Heredity. No ag, but no problem.
- African aquaculture takes off. Or perhaps rises to the surface would be more appropriate.
- Expert parses what experts said “sustainable intensification” means.
- Leafy greens and wine good for oldies. Good to know.
- Student Organic Seed Symposium to discuss “Growing the Organic Seed Spectrum: A Community Approach” in a few days’ time.
- How to tweet. At scientific conferences, that is.
- Maguey genebank in the offing. Well worth tweeting about.
- Arusha Protocol on the Protection of New Plant Varieties (Plant Breeders’ Rights) adopted. Basically UPOV 1999 for Africa. But I suspect the polemics are only just starting.