- Cytotaxonomic investigations to assess diversity and evolution in Amorphophallus Blume ex Decne. (Araceae). Out of 25 accessions and 7 wild species, “A. dubius may be the immediate ancestor of cultivated forms.”
- Physiological phenotyping of plants for crop improvement. High-throughput phenotyping is only the start.
- Geographic origin is not supported by the genetic variability found in a large living collection of Jatropha curcas with accessions from three continents. 900 global accessions fall into 2 genetic groups, but not related to geography.
- Genetic diversity of donkey populations from the putative centers of domestication. Sudan and/or Yemen.
- Genetic and Biochemical Evaluation of Natural Rubber from Eastern Washington Prickly Lettuce (Lactuca serriola L.). I look forward to seeing those rubber lettuce plantations.
- An approach on the in vitro maintenance of sugarcane with views for conservation and monitoring of plant nuclear DNA contents via flow cytometry. It’s possible to conserve sugarcane in vitro, but it won’t be straightforward.
- Geographical Gaps and Diversity in Deenanath Grass (Pennisetum pedicellatum Trin.) Germplasm Conserved at the ICRISAT Genebank. 194 provinces in 21 countries? That’s a lot of gaps.
- Realizing access and benefit sharing from use of genetic resources between diverging international regimes: the scope for leadership. As supplied by Norway, that is.
- Classification of seed storage behaviour of 67 Amazonian tree species. 1000-seed weight and seed moisture content at shedding are good, together, at predicting seed storage behaviour.
- Genetic Diversity and Population Structure in a Legacy Collection of Spring Barley Landraces Adapted to a Wide Range of Climates. 10 climatic clusters.
- Assessment of genetic variation within a global collection of lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) cultivars and landraces using SNP markers. Geographic pattern for commercial varieties, but not for landraces.
- Omne Ignotum pro Magnifico: characterization of commercial Bilberry extracts to fight adulteration. That would be Vaccinium myrtillus. You need to keep a sharp eye on the whole production process.
- The Contribution of the Solanaceae Coordinated Agricultural Project to Potato Breeding. It boils down to the Infinium 8303 Potato SNP Array, and it’s contribution to potato breeding has apparently been important.
- Horses as Sources of Proprietary Information: Commercialization, Conservation, and Compensation Pursuant to the Convention on Biological Diversity. You need a value chain with “a sequence of proprietary rights agreements governed and regulated by both tangible and intangible property regimes.” Well, yeah.
Nibbles: FAO Commission, Private genebank, DivSeek duo, Biofortified sorghum, African supermarkets, Enset, Health crops, Breadfruit conference, Denison podcast, Saving chocolate, Paramo app, CIMMYT genebank video, Pig milk
- FAO says genes are good for climate.
- India’s first private sector genebank established.
- Well, at least one person is really excited about DivSeek.
- And one major journal.
- DuPont video on increasing sorghum Fe and Zn levels in Africa.
- Will they sell it through local vendors or supermarkets?
- Let them eat enset. Which is not, however, on this list of today’s top healthy crops.
- Neither is breadfruit, but that shouldn’t stop you going to this conference in Trinidad.
- Ford Denison writes about his appearance on Eat This Podcast.
- Enough with the scary chocolate stories already.
- Here, go play with this app about the flora of the paramo from Missouri Botanical Garden.
- The CIMMYT genebank in the news.
- Pig milk in your tea, vicar?
Nibbles: Tilapia pros & cons, Cotton history, Potato diversity, Mars sustainability, Forest conservation, Homegardens, Village forests, 14th century gardening, American chestnut, Soil barcoding, Non-cow milk, Conserving Spanish grapes, Biodiversity & poverty
- The truth about tilapia. Well, according to Fox News, anyway.
- “..the greatest industry that ever had or could by possibility have ever existed in any age or country.” Go on, guess. No, not tilapia aquaculture, though it has time.
- Modern Farmer gives us its hipster take on the potato. And bows out?
- Mars unleashes its sustainability policies.
- The Forest Stewardship Council gives examples of community-based conservation success stories.
- Homegardens for nutrition. (No, no pre-cooked bean products here).
- Ok, put the two previous together and you get this: Sumatran village forests.
- Bet those villagers don’t need a gardening manual, unlike Henry VIII of England.
- The American chestnut continues its comeback. Manual probably available.
- After barcoding: metabarcoding.
- Symposium on non-cow milk. Sounds like fun.
- “With more diversity, the more tools we have to fight against problems like climate change.” Yes, even with wine grapes.
- Biodiversity goods and bads: the role of biodiversity in poverty alleviation.
Nibbles: Potatoes, Saffron, Mammoths, Yield variation, African CWR, Indian cattle
- China needs potatoes. And McDonalds.
- And Afghanistan needs saffron.
- Mammoths killed by people, not asteroids.
- A third of yield variability due to climate.
- Conserving crop wild relatives in southern Africa.
- “The fascination for exotic cattle breeds has been the bane of Indian dairy industry.”
Tracking down Chinese pigs
The most obvious impact has been on the pigs themselves. Until the 1980s farms as large as Mr Ouyang’s were unknown: 95% of Chinese pigs came from smallholdings with fewer than five animals. Today just 20% come from these backyard farms, says Mindi Schneider of the International Institute of Social Studies in The Hague. Some industrial facilities, often owned by the state or by multinationals, produce as many as 100,000 swine a year. These are born and live for ever on slatted metal beds; most never see direct sunlight; very few ever get to breed. The pigs themselves have changed physically, too. Three foreign breeds now account for 95% of them; to preserve its own kinds, China has a national gene bank (basically a giant freezer of pig semen) and a network of indigenous-pig menageries. Nevertheless, scores of ancient variants may soon die out.
That comes from an article in the Christmas edition of The Economist dissecting the consequences of the vertiginous increase in pork consumption in China since the liberalization of agriculture in the 1970s. I tried to find out more about that pig genebank, but it hasn’t been easy. The Country Report for the First Report on the State of the World’s Animal Genetic Resources mentions State Domestic Animal Gene Banks in Beijing and Jiangsu, but adds few details. I suspect the institute in question is CAAS’s Institute of Animal Sciences, but its website does not help much. Wherever it is, the Chinese national pig genebank is going to be busy. DAD-IS lists something like 125 named pig breeds from China, from the Anqing Six White to the Zhejiang Middle Large. One of them — the Wuzhishan — has even had its genome sequenced. On the other hand, it may not be so bad, as according to a 2003 paper, “extensive research on pig genetic diversity in China indicates that these 18 Chinese indigenous breeds may have one common ancestor…”
Incidentally, another agrobiodiversity-themed article in the same issue of the magazine deals with the turkey, and is a nice complement to Jeremy’s two forays into that succulent subject over at Eat This Podcast.