- A large-scale intervention to introduce orange sweet potato in rural Mozambique increases vitamin A intakes among children and women. Just 1 year of training worked just as well as a higher intensity intervention (3 years) in increasing OSP and vitamin A intake by younger children, older children and women, and decreasing prevalence of inadequate vitamin A intakes. OSP represented about half of all sweet potatoes consumed so I guess there was not complete replacement of local varieties.
- Composition of milk from minor dairy animals and buffalo breeds: a biodiversity perspective. There are significant interbreed and inter-species differences. Dromedary milk is closest to cow milk, mare and donkey milk maybe the healthiest, but moose milk is the one I’d like to try.
- Quality indicators for passport data in ex situ genebanks. That would be the genebanks in Eurisco. Verdict: not bad, but could do better. Most variation in quality is among institutes.
- Exploring the population genetics of genebank and historical landrace varieties. Old samples of dead seeds of 4 crops in Swedish museum jars more genetically variable than genebank accessions, but it’s not the genebank’s fault. And at least their seeds are still alive. Also no genetic correspondence between geographically matched museum and genebank samples.
- Combining chloroplast and nuclear microsatellites to investigate origin and dispersal of New World sweet potato landraces. Two areas of domestication, probably from a single wild progenitor species: lowland NW South America and lowland Central America/Caribbean. Genetic differences between these 2 genepools not accompanied by morphological differences, but then again nobody’s looked properly, and the current descriptors are useless anyway.
- The significance of African vegetables in ensuring food security for South Africa’s rural poor. Their huge potential is being thwarted by evil extensionists. Ok, but don’t we need to move beyond that?
- Comparative study on baobab fruit morphological variation between western and south-eastern Africa: opportunities for domestication. Hang on a minute, aren’t there a million factsheets about all this?
- Marriage exchanges, seed exchanges, and the dynamics of manioc diversity. Kinship structures determine cassava diversity patterns in Gabon. Matrilineal societies have more diversity.
- Interspecific hybridization of diploids and octoploids in strawberry. You get pentaploid and tetraploid plants.
- Genome wide association analyses for drought tolerance related traits in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.). Ok, deep breath. Over 200 accessions, both wild and cultivated, from 30 countries, so quite variable, but also structured. There were some QTLs that differed between dry and wet sites, but they didn’t explain much phenotypic variation, and they couldn’t be related to previous work. So GWA not much use, probably because of population structure. But couldn’t that have been predicted? And isn’t it possible to do something about structure in the analysis?
- Population genetics of beneficial heritable symbionts. Of insects, that is. Mostly proteobacteria. So my question is, could somehow attacking the symbionts form the basis of a pest management strategy?
- Projecting the effects of climate change on the distribution of maize races and their wild relatives in Mexico. Many races and wild relatives are predicted to shift in geographic distribution. Unless of course agronomy intervenes. Teocinte taxa should be collected.
Nibbles: Heirloom cattle, Saleb, Wheat protein, Dog domestication, Rooibos
- Why Highland Cattle? Because they look so cool, of course.
- It’s sahlib time!
- Australians find the extra gluten protein gene they need in Italian wheat.
- Where the hell was the dog domesticated?
- Rooibos tea is latest climate change victim.
Nibbles: Gums & resins, ITPGRFA, Soy sauce, Med diet, Aquaculture, Cacao, Sugar industry, Nomenclature, Yam (Chinese), Urban agriculture
- After yesterday’s thing on gum arabic, CIFOR’s blogger weighs in on frankincense and myrrh. Gums and resins renaissance, anyone?
- VoA on the ITPGRFA, with interview goodness.
- Soy sauce in bullet points.
- A Spanish food historian’s deconstruction of the Mediterranean diet deconstructed by Rachel Laudan.
- Fish in paddies: here comes the science.
- Côte d’Ivoire to revive cacao cultivation. By building a research centre?
- Pleasant, cultured and not so short foray into the history of the sugar industry in Kenya and Mauritius.
- You say sweet potato. I say yam.
- You say yam, so does Rhizowen, and yet … he’s talking about neither Ipomoea nor Manihot.
- Urban agriculture thriving in DR Congo.
Brainfood: Kids and veggies, Common names, Markets, Barley genetic history, Inbreeding depression
- Exclusive breastfeeding duration and later intake of vegetables in preschool children. More breastfeeding means more vegetables later on.
- Common names of species, the curious case of Capra pyrenaica and the concomitant steps towards the ‘wild-to-domestic’ transformation of a flagship species and its vernacular names. Applying the common name of a domestic species to a wild one can cause problems. Yeah but how do you get across the importance of wild relatives otherwise?
- Testing the central market hypothesis: a multivariate analysis of Tanzanian sorghum markets. Lots of fancy maths proves there are basically two sorghum markets in Tanzania. But what does that mean for diversity?
- Evolutionary history of barley cultivation in Europe revealed by genetic analysis of extant landraces. Nine geographically-based populations, which go back to the early days of the spread of agriculture. Now, tell me someone, do they correspond with the human genetic data?
- Genetic erosion impedes adaptive responses to stressful environments. Stress reduces variability, which reduces ability to respond to stress.
Don’t forget the open Mendeley group for the papers we link to here.
Brainfood: Broomcorn millet, Domestication, Stand diversity, South African ornamentals, Rice wild relatives, Agriculture under climate change, Wheat domestication
- Genetic diversity and phylogeography of broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum L.) across Eurasia. One origin or two? Moving east or west? We still don’t know, but crop wild relatives may tell us.
- Next-generation sequencing for understanding and accelerating crop domestication. Those who understand history may be able to repeat it.
- Competition among loblolly pine trees: Does genetic variability of the trees in a stand matter? Can’t really say either way.
- The potential of South African indigenous plants for the international cut flower trade. Could do better.
- Genetic variability of banana with ornamental potential. The Embrapa Musa collection has some really cool-looking plants.
- Cytological Behavior of Hybridization Barriers Between Oryza sativa and Oryza officinalis. I guess that’s why they call it the tertiary genepool.
- Ancient lipids reveal continuity in culinary practices across the transition to agriculture in Northern Europe. Crap on 6000-year-old ceramic vessels shows people in the Western Baltic continued to eat fish and clams even after agriculture arrived. Well do you blame them?
- Options for support to agriculture and food security under climate change. Show ’em yer multi-pronged strategies, that’ll get their attention.
- N.I. Vavilov’s Theory of Centres of Diversity in the Light of Current Understanding of Wheat Diversity, Domestication and Evolution. When genes flow from centre of origin, that centre will not coincide with centre of diversity.