- Do you really need that portal?
- Brits say local hops are best. And who am I to argue?
- Weird statement on genetic resources from EU Commission. Clarifications gladly received.
- Even turfgrass has its heroes.
- Want to rent some seeds?
- A reminder from someone who should know that crops have biodiversity too.
- CGIAR Consortium talks up its crown jewels.
Nibbles: GRISP, Wheat for Africa, African ag, Future genebanks, GCARD, Zoonoses, Urban ag, Goat feed, ICRISAT breeding, Old corn & apples, Millets, Chocolate, Medlars, Yam beans, Black Sigatoka, CBD and ITPGRFA, Fish policy, Dog miscegenation
- Global rice and wheat in Africa tweetfests going on. And speaking of Africa, IFPRI has a big report.
- Speaking of rice, read about how our friends at IRRI are rethinking the genebank.
- Speaking of tweetfests, GCARD promises to be one too. More than a conference!
- From ILRI, who will no doubt be at GCARD, the downside of urban farming. And more doom and gloom.
- Speaking of urban agriculture, RAFI has a big report. (Oh, and agriculture is not the only thing that can be peri-urban.)
- Speaking of ILRI, this time in better mood, they’re feeding improved sweetpotato and cassava varieties to improved goat breeds.
- Speaking of improved varieties, ICRISAT has them too, of millets and the like. And they came from the genebank. And they were made by breeders, who have a newsletter, did you know? This is coming up because of the CBD meeting in Hyderabad, on which more later…
- Speaking of genebanks (the USDA ones in this case), it’s not only breeders who use them. (And speaking of USDA genebanks, here’s a story about the apple one.)
- And speaking of millets, they’re magic!
- Speaking of magic, that’s the only word for chocolate, isn’t it?
- Speaking of painting yourself into a corner, do yam beans go with chocolate? No? Well, maybe medlars do.
- Speaking of fruits (good catch!), Ecuadorians find disease resistance gene in Indian banana. Or at least banana named after Indian city.
- And that, I suppose, is why you need multiple ABS regimes, despite the confusion that may cause in Hyderabad and elsewhere.
- Speaking of ABS, interesting how that doesn’t really figure in fish policy discussions.
- And finally, a propos of nothing in particular, news of an unusual wolf-dog hybrid.
Know your apples
You know that horrible feeling when you realize you’ve used the wrong apple variety? Well, you need never have it again, not with this handy new flowchart from Slate.
Now, if they could only do something similar for another important multi-purpose crop…
Nibbles: Cacao breeding, Specialy crops, Taihu pigs
- Breeding cacao in Ecuador.
- Supporting specialty crops in the US.
- Tasty Chinese piglets.
Nibbles: Darwin herbarium, Saving seeds, Hunger Season, Grafting, Farmers’ rights, Vitamin A scandal, Plant hunting
- Did you know Darwin collected crop wild relative specimens on the Beagle?
- Saving the Running Conch. And its stories.
- Melinda Gates plugs “Hunger Season.” Including to AGRA, presumably.
- I want a fruit salad tree too.
- If you know how to implement Farmers’ Rights, the ITPGRFA would like to hear from you.
- Don’t keep taking the (vitamin A) pills.
- Hunters, pirates. You pays your money…