Mainstream

May 29, 2020June 8, 2020

Nibbles: Lettuce breeding, SPC genebank, European genebanks, Messaging, New sorghum, Ancient DNA, Pastoralism review

A million bucks to save lettuce.
Genebank provides seeds shock.
The genebank of the future will provide data.
How to talk about genebanks (among other things).
A sorghum variety to keep an eye on.
The past, present and future of Cinchona.
Ancient genomics of people and dogs: compare and contrast.
Looking (up) to pastoralists for answers.

May 26, 2020

Nibbles: BSF, GNR2020, AI, IITA, Papa, Volcani, Yu, aDNA

The ITPGRFA’s Benefit Sharing Fund at work.
Remembering the Global Nutrition Report. Yes, I know it was only a few days ago.
Measuring poverty from space.
Interview with IITA’s genebank manager.
Humble-bragging the potato. In Spanish.
The Israeli genebank in the news.
Seed saving in China.
DNA from ancient Egyptian emmer.

May 22, 2020

Nibbles: Fusarium, Lactobacillus, Lycopersicon, Digitaria, Morus

The latest on TR4 resistant banana varieties in Australia.
Lactobacillus is in fact 25 genera.
Greenhouse tomatoes pretty diverse after all?
Digitaria: from weed to forage.
London’s mulberries.

May 20, 2020August 18, 2020

Nibbles: 4H, Plague medicine, Maize origins, Rice spread, Seed saving

Plant Health, Animal Health, Human Health and Environmental Health. What’s not to like?
It used to be thought that tobacco and sugar could help with the above. Go figure.
La Cuna del Maíz Mexicano.
The same, but for rice in Asia.
Backyard seed saving, and science.

May 19, 2020May 18, 2020

Nibbles: Kenya forests, Australian grasses, Jackfruit processing, Turin fruit museum

Safeguarding Kenya’s forests the local way.
The latest from the Dark Emu guy. Is this how Australian Aborigines farmed?
Adding value to jackfruit in India.
No jackfruit in this astonishing collection of fruit diversity in wax, alas.

1. Why the modern food system prizes uniformity even though resilience depends on diversity. Spoiler alert: follow the money.
2. Historic crop varieties are finding renewed relevance as farmers contend with more volatile weather, emerging pests and changing markets. Let’s hope there’s money to conserve them.
3. India’s traditional wheat varieties contain diversity that could help breeders develop crops better able to withstand heat and drought. Let’s hope there’s money to conserve them.
4. India announces significant progress in conserving its wild rice genetic resources. Great that there was money to conserve them.
5. Community seed banks across Kenya are calling for formal recognition and sustained support, arguing that locally managed collections strengthen seed sovereignty, preserve traditional varieties and help farming communities adapt to climate change. Yes, but are they enough without national genebanks?
6. Researchers are racing to conserve wild coffee species whose genetic diversity may provide the resistance and resilience needed to secure tomorrow’s morning cup. Is the industry contributing, though ?
7. New history of the macadamia traces its remarkable journey from Australia’s native forests to a global crop, while underscoring why conserving the remaining wild populations is essential for the crop’s long-term future.
8. Researchers at the University of the South Pacific investigate how taro can withstand climate change, combining research with conservation to help protect one of the region’s most culturally and nutritionally important staple crops.
9. Chester Zoo collects seeds from highly threatened cacti, because why not?
Published on July 14, 2026