- Why do chillies differ in their heat? Ed Yong explains all, and links to the peer-reviewed paper.
- Frankincense “doomed”. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Take a number. And a merry Christmas to you too, publicity hounds.
- IRRI to sequence 8.3% of its rice diversity. I’ll alert the media. No, wait …
- Speaking of which … Diversification of rice and diversification of languages; great long blog post explains how they illuminate one another.
- Agro-ecology is the answer, says UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food. What was the question?
Nibbles: Coffee cryo, Potato catalogue, Chickpea Revolution, Community seed bank, Livestock gifts, Mexican grinding, Agroforestry in Pakistan, CGIAR, Japanese mint
- The value of conserving coffee diversity? Actually more like the cost, but anyway.
- CIP publishes a hardcopy variety catalogue. How quaint.
- The latest installment of the Consortium’s pean to the CG at 40 is all about chickpeas.
- Indian farmer to set up “collective seed bank for climate emergencies and future generations.” No word on whether he’s using Climate Analogues.
- I All African Horticultural Congress proceedings online.
- The case for and against livestock handouts.
- Mexican men do not grind.
- World Livestock 2011 out online as bunch of PDFs. How quaint.
- Pakistanis told to turn to agroforestry before it’s too late.
- Head of CGIAR says we need agricultural research to feed the world. Well he would, wouldn’t he.
- There’s money in them thar mints.
Nibbles: Cannabis, Biochar, Hessian fly, Conference, Anti-conference, Mexican seeds
- Plant domain name changes hands for “high” price.
- Biochar reduces emissions of greenhouse gases from glacial soils. Probably cures dandruff too.
- We love resistance to wheat hessian fly, as an example of the value of agricultural biodiversity. Now it gets really interesting.
- 18th Annual International Sustainable Development Research Conference, University of Hull. h/t CAPRi Deadline for submissions is Thursday! Hurry!
- But wait! “‘Sustainable Development’ Is Often Used Gratuitously”.
- Local seed saving in Mexico.
Nibbles: Statuary, Confusion, Unheard from, Kava
- A statue of Norman Borlaug. Artists invited to submit ideas.
- A diversity of Junior Ministers of Agriculture in Italy.
- Feeling left out of the EU’s survey on the state of its biodiversity work? Join Patrick and make your voice heard. But not necessarily listened too.
- Fiji cracks down on yaqona, which we know as kava. Say it isn’t so!
Nibbles: Sweet potato value adding, Coffee and tree diversity, Spice and girls
- Sweet potato yoghurt? Yeah, ok, why not.
- Decreasing coffee production in Kenya can reduce tree abundance and richness on farm, but increasing production will lead to more trees but not necessarily more diversity. No, I don’t get it either, but have a look at the data yourself and try to figure it out. There’s plenty of it in this presentation.
- Love of hot peppers as benign masochism. Myself I think it’s a sexual selection cue.