Livestock

November 16, 2022November 17, 2022

Animal cryoconservation hots up

It has somehow passed me by that FAO and NordGen have been running a series of webinars on “Innovations in cryoconservation of animal genetic resources,” in support of some new FAO guidelines. The next webinar on 1 December is the seventh in the series and will cover “Legal Issues: Acquisition, Storage and Transfer of Gene Bank Material.” Recordings of previous ones, and associated presentations, are on the FAO website.

November 10, 2022November 10, 2022

Nibbles: Ancient oils, “AGRA”, Seed libraries, Tonka bean, MGIS, Wild Arachis

Remember the book on ancient Mesopotamian cookery in the last Nibbles? Ok well here’s a website on Vegetable Oils And Animal Fats In Early Urban Societies Of Syro-Mesopotamia. Esoteric? Moi?
To come back down to earth, you could always read this hot take on the AGRA rebranding.
Couldn’t be more down to earth than community seedbanks, aka seed libraries.
The seeds of Dipteryx odorata will make your head float.
The latest news from the Musa Germplasm Information System may float your boat. It did mine. But I’m into esoterica, didn’t you know?
Nothing esoteric about wild peanuts any more.

November 7, 2022November 7, 2022

Brainfood: Indigenous crops, Indian vegetables, Local breeds, Wheat identity, Date names, Food security & heritage, Peruvian cuisine, Food sovereignty, Palestinian seeds, Tea culture, Sacred groves, Food system transformation, Diverse landscapes

Renaming Indigenous crops and addressing colonial bias in scientific language. Orphan is out, Indigenous is in.
Vegetable Genetic Resources to Mitigate Nutritional Insecurity in India. How many of these Indian vegetables are Indigenous as opposed to indigenous though?
Farmers using local livestock biodiversity share more than animal genetic resources: Indications from a workshop with farmers who use local breeds. Farmers using local breeds don’t share colonial bias, I suspect. Or do they? Has anyone checked?
Because error has a price: A systematic review of the applications of DNA fingerprinting for crop varietal identification. Nobody’s perfect, even the colonially unbiased.
What lies behind a fruit crop variety name? A case study of the barnī date palm from al-‘Ulā oasis, Saudi Arabia. Local variety names are complicated, no wonder mistakes happen.
Food security and the cultural heritage missing link. Want to preserve cultural heritage AND boost productivity? Then support (1) preservation of genetic resources, (2) value addition, (3) traditional food processing, (4) preference matching, and (5) agritourism. What, no fighting colonial bias?
Analysis of Innovation in Peru’s Gastronomic Industry. All of the above?
Food sovereignty in sub-Saharan Africa: Reality, relevance, and practicality. All of the above are well and good, but not enough. You also need modern varieties. Just get their names right, eh?
Baladi Seeds in the oPt: Populations as Objects of Preservation and Units of Analysis. Whatever you do, don’t reduce cultural heritage to data.
Reinventing a Tradition: East Asian Tea Cultures in the Contemporary World. No danger of reducing tea to data, judging by this collection of papers.
Factors driving the tree species richness in sacred groves in Indian subcontinent: a review. Not religion, apparently, according to the data. Go figure.
The role of traditional knowledge and food biodiversity to transform modern food systems. There is plenty of evidence out there that bringing greater biodiversity into food systems results in multiple socio-cultural benefits. As this Brainfood, as well as the case studies in this paper, tries to show.
Complex agricultural landscapes host more biodiversity than simple ones: A global meta-analysis. Had enough?

November 5, 2022

Nibbles: Trevor Williams, ICRISAT genebank, Irish seedbank, Domestication video, COP27 genebank webinar, Pasturelands, Big Food report, Mesopotamian cooking

The late Prof. Trevor Williams, one of the pioneers of genebanking, in the news.
The President of Niger visits a genebank, makes the news.
Irish seedbanking in the news.
Dr Mark Chapman on how to study domestication using seeds in genebanks.
COP27 webinar on using seeds in genebanks for climate change adaptation.
Pasturelands: sometimes genebanks are not enough. Though even then I bet they can help.
Big Food still not doing much to support genebanks, despite reports such as this.
A book on ancient Mesopotamian cooking. Who can think of the best link to genebanks?

October 20, 2022October 20, 2022

Nibbles: GRIN-U, Canadian seeds, Jordan genebank, Green genebank, Millets everywhere, Saving livestock diversity, Sustainable smallholders, Uli Westphal, Eat This Tomato

Lots of new stuff on GRIN-U. Check out the genebank success stories in particular. How many of the things below will be successes? Lots of luck to all of them…
Showcasing seeds in Canada.
Setting up a new genebank in Jordan.
Let’s hope it will be eco-efficient like CIAT’s. Other GROW webinars here. Yes, they’ve started up again.
Embracing millets in southern Africa and India.
Why livestock should not follow the example of Charles II of Spain.
Supporting traditional sustainable farming in Central America.
More on Uli Westphal‘s cool illustrations of crop diversity.
Which include tomatoes. Don’t forget to subscribe to Jeremy’s pod.
And subscribe to the GRIN-U newsletter too while you’re at it!