- Dynamics and driving forces of agricultural landscapes in Southern Ethiopia – a case study of the Chencha and Arbaminch areas. It’s the population pressure, stupid. No word on what expansion of agriculture and decrease in holding size is doing to agricultural biodiversity. Or wild relatives, for that matter.
- The potential of pale flax as a source of useful genetic variation for cultivated flax revealed through molecular diversity and association analyses. Levels of diversity similar in wild and cultivated, but strong differentiation between the two.
- Microsatellite analysis of genetic relationships between wild and cultivated melons in Northwest and Central China. For the true wild melons, go to the NW. Others may be escapes and introgressions.
- Evaluation of cauliflower genebank accessions under organic and conventional cultivation in Southern Germany. Genotype performance differs depending on cultivation method. But if you want to breed specifically for organic conditions, here’s what to use.
- Mission and Modern Citrus Species Diversity of Baja California Peninsula Oases. Lots of unique types in the mission oases and surrounding ranches. For how long? Well, here’s the baseline. I’d like to know about the agritourism potential.
- Evaluation of mungbean genotypes for salt tolerance at early seedling growth stage. From the Indian core collection. Some good stuff found.
- Implementing the dynamic conservation of elm genetic resources in Europe: case studies and perspectives. Genebanks are not enough. But then again, nobody ever said they were.
- Future distributions of Fusarium oxysporum f. spp. in European, Middle Eastern and North African agricultural regions under climate change. Some countries are in big trouble.
- Use of wheat genetic resources to develop biofortified wheat with enhanced grain zinc and iron concentrations and desirable processing quality. CIMMYT has used a range of wild species to increase the Zn and Fe content of high-yielding, high-quality bread wheat lines.
- Expressing the public value of plant genetic resources by organising novel relationships: The contribution of selected participatory plant breeding and market-based arrangements. PPB can help smallholders manage the indirect and option value of agrobiodiversity, but it needs new types of property rights and networked governance. Whatever that is, it can take a variety of forms. All this from China, of all places.
Baobab booze, anyone?
An even more modest suggestion to stop plundering other cultures for kicks
Sure, vodka is nice, but why not use your indigenous culture’s recipe for hard liquor?
Image borrowed from here.
A modest suggestion for tef value addition
Sure, tef is nice, but can you do this with it?
Was going to say 'Only in America…' but then I saw on back is made in France. Quoi?? #NewAgeBooze pic.twitter.com/g0SK2jXPT3
— Nigella Lawson (@Nigella_Lawson) September 14, 2014
Move over quinoa, it’s tef time.
Not much to look at, but if you squint hard you can read the label: teff. ((Snapped in the Amsterdam Botanic Gardens back in April 2005.)) The Food Programme from BBC Radio 4 devoted an entire programme to this ancient Ethiopian grain, new darling of “the health-conscious Western world”. And if quinoa had you worried about the impact you might have on poor farmers who grow the stuff, fear not. This is one bandwagon you can climb aboard with clear eyes and full hearts, because back in 2006 the government of Ethiopia presciently banned its export in order to keep supplies available and affordable for the domestic market. So, as The Food Programme explains, all the tef you eat outside Ethiopia was grown elsewhere (or is very stale). There are some suggestions that Ethiopian farmers would actually like to follow their Bolivian brethren onto the global market, but for now, feel free to dive into tef knowing that you are not taking it from the mouths of the Ethiopian farmers who nurtured it for all those millennia.