- Nazi cattle invade Britain. Are they the ones that have been sequenced? I think we should be told.
- ICIPE helps Kenyan farmers domesticate hangover cure plant.
- New, useless acacia found. No word on who lost it in first place.
- Yet another plea to save the effing British orchard.
- Hunter-Gatherer-Sculptor. “I got your imprecations right here,” says Jeremy.
- Razib rounds up horses.
Crops watched at Cropwatch
This is a new one on me. Cropwatch “is an independent watchdog for Endangered & Vulnerable Natural Aromatic Products used in the Aroma (Perfumes, Flavours, Aromatherapy, Cosmetics), Herbal, Traditional Medicine & Phytochemical Industries.” All those capitals give a bit of the flavour of the site. Let’s just say it’s not really beautiful. But it is informative.
Nibbles: Taro, NTFP, Maca, Perils of new crops, Nabhan, Cockfighting, Old wine, Maya nut, Cassava Brown Streak Virus
- University of Hawaii’s work on taro summarized.
- Watch out for FAO’s new NWFP-Digest. Non-timber, non-wood; what’s the difference?
- The transition of maca from neglect to market prominence. Free download.
- Maize and malaria in Ethiopia.
- Gary Nabhan interviewed. Again.
- NPR on the limits of the Green Revolution.
- Cocks still fighting in India.
- The early Egyptians “…were very aware of the benefits that natural additives can have—especially if dissolved into an alcoholic medium, like wine or beer.”
- Brosimum alicastrum to the rescue.
- Uganda’s biofuel hopes dashed by virus? Say it aint so.
Nibbles: Drugs, Horticulture, Nutritional composition, Health, Rice, Coconut
- “Coffee and cocoa yes, coca no.”
- 1st All Africa Horticulture Congress.
- Carotenoid and vitamin content of Micronesian atoll foods: Pandanus (Pandanus tectorius) and garlic pear (Crataeva speciosa) fruit.
- A Family Year: a 5-part television series focusing on the health and environmental threats facing families in Russia and Central Europe.
- Natbar Sarangi: one man Indian rice genebank.
- Climate change “might hinder coconut production“.
More complex, more interesting, more hopeful
There is simply no way to summarize Willie Smits‘ Ted Talk. It is a masterful description of putting the complexity in an agricultural ecosystem to work to solve the problems of humans and orang-utans. Just astonishing. And so much more intellectually satisfying than a simplified system. Luscious.