- Biological collections under pressure.
- And mobile phones probably wont help. Much.
- Chilean pisco? Really?
- The end of cooking?
- Sericulture on the Silk Road.
- ILRI is 40, did we say? Not sure what they do on sericulture. No doubt somebody there will tell us. They’re social networking machines over there.
- Watch out, ILRI, Silicon Valley is coming for ya.
- One of the reasons why we need livestock research: deforestation.
- I like any article with the word nexus in the title.
- The landscape approach meta-analyzed to within an inch of its life. Bottom line: it’s the women, stupid!
- The power of the people’s potatoes.
- A secret herb garden revealed. I hope they install CCTV.
- Kana’tarokhónwe. Yep, clickbait, but worth it, trust me. And then scale the thing up.
- How to do climate-smart agriculture in Latin America and the Caribbean, country by country.
- Oh no, yet another article on that Himalayan Viagra caterpillar fungus thingy.
- Boffins resurrect 700-year-old fungus from reindeer crap.
- Indian rice breeders talk about their cool new basmati.
Brainfood: Biogeoinformatics, FGR review, Lesser pulses, Slovak orchards, Wheat evaluation network, Iranian olives, Beans & FIGS, Blasted rice, Tibetan pigs, Alpine grass, Development as freedom
- Biogeoinformatics of livestock genomic resources. Don’t forget the “geo” bit. Goes for plants as well!
- Utilization and transfer of forest genetic resources: A global review. They’ve been going on for 200 years, but we’ll need provenance trials and conventional breeding more than ever in the future. Phytosanitary risks involved in tree germplasm movement are now better managed, but the big problem in the future will be Nagoya. Molecular assisted breeding? Meh.
- Genomics and molecular breeding in lesser explored pulse crops: Current trends and future opportunities. We’re mostly still awaiting our jetpacks.
- Orchards as traces of traditional agricultural landscape in Slovakia. About half are left, but they won’t save themselves.
- A wheat phenotyping network to incorporate physiological traits for climate change in South Asia. Local checks significantly earlier than the best CIMMYT can offer. Evaluate the whole genebank?
- Genetic structure of Iranian olive cultivars and their relationship with Mediterranean’s cultivars revealed by SSR markers. The N Iran cultivars are different from everything else.
- Leaf traits associated with drought adaptation in faba bean (Vicia faba L.). Chalk up another success for FIGS.
- Large scale germplasm screening for identification of novel rice blast resistance sources. 289 out of 4246 accessions showed resistance against all five rice blast isolates. The 4246 chosen on basis of “annotated rice blast resistance information” from the IRRI genebank. No word on whether FIGS was considered.
- Genetic Variation of EPAS1 Gene in Tibetan Pigs and Three Low-Altitude Pig Breeds in China. One haplotype seems to be particularly associated with high altitude adaptation. Unclear if that is a really important objective of pig breeding around the world.
- Morpho-physiological variation of Poa alpina L. genetic resources from the Rhaetian Alps, Italy, grown in two altitude-contrasting sites. There was more variation within than among populations, and it’s ok to do seed production for high altitude sites at low altitudes. No word on whether same could be said for alpine pigs.
- Protection of Traditional Knowledge and Origin Products in Developing Countries: Matching Human Rights and IP Protection with Business Development Opportunities. It’s all in the value chain.
Brainfood: Ethiopian landuse history, Linum diversity, Chinese melons, Organic cauliflower, Mexican mission citrus, Saline mungbeans, Saving the elm, Future Fusarium, Wheat biofortification, PPB and public value
- Dynamics and driving forces of agricultural landscapes in Southern Ethiopia – a case study of the Chencha and Arbaminch areas. It’s the population pressure, stupid. No word on what expansion of agriculture and decrease in holding size is doing to agricultural biodiversity. Or wild relatives, for that matter.
- The potential of pale flax as a source of useful genetic variation for cultivated flax revealed through molecular diversity and association analyses. Levels of diversity similar in wild and cultivated, but strong differentiation between the two.
- Microsatellite analysis of genetic relationships between wild and cultivated melons in Northwest and Central China. For the true wild melons, go to the NW. Others may be escapes and introgressions.
- Evaluation of cauliflower genebank accessions under organic and conventional cultivation in Southern Germany. Genotype performance differs depending on cultivation method. But if you want to breed specifically for organic conditions, here’s what to use.
- Mission and Modern Citrus Species Diversity of Baja California Peninsula Oases. Lots of unique types in the mission oases and surrounding ranches. For how long? Well, here’s the baseline. I’d like to know about the agritourism potential.
- Evaluation of mungbean genotypes for salt tolerance at early seedling growth stage. From the Indian core collection. Some good stuff found.
- Implementing the dynamic conservation of elm genetic resources in Europe: case studies and perspectives. Genebanks are not enough. But then again, nobody ever said they were.
- Future distributions of Fusarium oxysporum f. spp. in European, Middle Eastern and North African agricultural regions under climate change. Some countries are in big trouble.
- Use of wheat genetic resources to develop biofortified wheat with enhanced grain zinc and iron concentrations and desirable processing quality. CIMMYT has used a range of wild species to increase the Zn and Fe content of high-yielding, high-quality bread wheat lines.
- Expressing the public value of plant genetic resources by organising novel relationships: The contribution of selected participatory plant breeding and market-based arrangements. PPB can help smallholders manage the indirect and option value of agrobiodiversity, but it needs new types of property rights and networked governance. Whatever that is, it can take a variety of forms. All this from China, of all places.
Brainfood: Space peppers, Stunting stunting, Wild passion infusions, Welcoming millet, Georgia pears, Portuguese beef, Adaptation in Niger, Olives in Sicily & Jordan, Vigna diversity
- Isolation and detection of differential genes in hot pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) after space flight using AFLP markers. Space flight resulted in some new traits.
- Addressing chronic malnutrition through multi-sectoral, sustainable approaches: a review of the causes and consequences. Many causes, many consequences, many things that could be done. Too complicated? Here’s a ray of hope for you: “…diet diversity for children older than 6 months, measured as consumption of at least four food groups, has been found to have the strongest impact on the prevention of stunting compared to other IYCF interventions.”
- Antioxidants and sensory properties of the infusions of wild passiflora from Brazilian savannah: potential as functional beverages. Possibly better than green tea, and just as acceptable, except for P. alata, which is inexplicably bitter. Which personally makes me want to try it even more.
- Formative Research on Acceptability of Pearl Millet in Rural Eastern Kenya – A Pilot Study. A lot of families were willing to barter their maize for it.
- Genetic relationships between wild progenitor pear (Pyrus L.) species and local cultivars native to Georgia, South Caucasus. Local Georgian cultivars are close to the local wild species, which is genetically distinct in that country compared to others represented in the USDA collection.
- Traceability of 9 Portuguese cattle breeds with PDO products in the market using microsatellites. You can do it, but will there really be viable Protected Denomination of Origin products based on different Portuguese cattle breeds?
- Divergent adaptation to climate variability: A case study of pastoral and agricultural societies in Niger. What’s good for the farmer is bad for the pastoralist. ‘Twas ever thus.
- Molecular characterization of olive (Olea europaea L.) Sicilian cultivars using SSR markers. Some things with the same name were different, some things with different names were the same. Still no cure for cancer.
- Characterization of Jordanian olive cultivars (Olea europaea L.) using RAPD and ISSR molecular markers. All the 13 tested were different. No word on relationships with the Sicilian varieties. But then I’ve given up on finding that sort of collaboration.
- Detection of Genome Donor Species of Neglected Tetraploid Crop Vigna reflexo-pilosa (Créole Bean), and Genetic Structure of Diploid Species Based on Newly Developed EST-SSR Markers from Azuki Bean (Vigna angularis). “V. trinervia and one taxon of V. hirtella are the genome donors of V. reflexo-pilosa.” Never heard of any of them.
Nibbles: Coconut disease, Maize hybrid history, Measuring nutrition, Pollan on biodiversity & health, Ugandan staples, Shamba Shapeup, Ethiopian wine, South African diversification, Damn dumplings, Disease curation, Quinoa curation, Mango treat, Indian mangoes
- Lethal Yellowing doing for coconuts — and livelihoods — in Mozambique. And typhoons in the Philippines.
- Potted history of maize hybrids from 1998.
- Unusual rice and tomato species sequenced.
- The challenges of measuring the impact of nutrition interventions.
- Old interview with Michael Pollan on biodiversity and health resurfaces, maybe to coincide with the above.
- What will be the nutrition impact of replacing matooke with cassava, I wonder? Maybe if it was yellow cassava it would be ok?
- Maybe Shamba Shapeup will tell us.
- Well, there’s always wine. Even in Ethiopia.
- Or insects. Or roiboos. If you’re in South Africa.
- Chinese dumplings responsible for climate change.
- New Scoop.it page on downy mildews.
- And new Flipboard section on quinoa. And something to add to it.
- Eid Mubarak! Celebrate with mango kunafa.
- But which variety?