- Our friends at CIAT showcase our friend Colin showcasing crop wild relatives.
- The latest from Olivier De Schutter on agroecology.
- How to identify and nurture those elusive agricultural entrepreneurs.
- So that they can help you with tree domestication, for example?
- Pigs in ancient Egypt.
- Is the whole local food thing being taken too far?
Harvesting the bounty of weedy greens
That’s Violet, my sister-in-law. She’s harvesting weedy indigenous leafy greens from her (and my) mother-in-law’s farm at Gataka, near Limuru in Kenya. And talking to me about these interesting species at the same time. She’s mainly picking “terere” (Amaranthus hybridus), though she mentions “togotia” (Erucastrum arabicum) towards the end. Also “kahorora,” or pumpkin leaves, though of course that’s not a weedy species. Thanks, Violet.
Nibbles: Kiss apple, Cryptic variation, Brewing yeast history, Sandalwood genebank, Large chile, Red dye, Grassland, Fish eco-labeling, Radiation
- Koreans breed bite-sized apple for breath-freshening. Why can’t I find a picture?
- Climate change bad for genetic diversity too. Tell that to taro in Cameroon.
- Lager yeast came from South America. Thank you, Argentina! And more on long-distance microbe movement.
- Field Gene Bank of Threatened Plants from the Western Ghats threatened.
- Man’s 16-inch chili may be a record. Get your mind out of the gutter.
- The source of Turkish Red.
- “The proper use of native grasslands is to use them as grasslands…”
- Something fishy about eco-labeling.
- Japanese boffins trying to breed radiation-tolerant rice. Maybe they should look at this map in their search for parents for their crossing programme.
Nibbles: Mongolian pastoralists, Kenya pastoralists, UK meadows, Specialty crops, Adaptation
- And we’re back: Desertification threatening Mongolia. Will Biden talk about that on his 6-hour visit today? No, I don’t think so either. Fortunately some people are trying to do something.
- Life not great for pastoralists in Kenya either. But some people are looking to camel milk to see them through. Alas, the latest effort to boost food security research in E. Africa doesn’t have much for livestock-keepers.
- Kew tries to reform UK native grassland seed business. Hope they are taking latest figures on species migration speeds into account.
- Specialty Crops for Pacific Islands book out. Alas, it includes coffee.
- But don’t worry, adapting to climate change is easy.
Nibbles: Pests & Diseases, Nutrition Actions, Famine, GM Maize, Breeding, More breeding, India’s monsoon, Vegetable undernutrition
- Need a new pest or disease? Here’s the latest list from CAB Abstracts.
- WHO’s e-Library of Evidence for Nutrition Actions. No food, as such, that I could see.
- Is “famine” partly the result of a fixation on maize?
- Nah, course not. At least, I think not … “Drought persuades Kenya to import GM maize“.
- CIAT and partners toast new BREAD project. (FX: Groan.) It’s about breeding cassava and banana.
- Plant Breeders Without Borders. Read more here. Could do with a snappier title, I reckon.
- India’s long-range weather forecast looks bad.
- Modern vegetables are less nutritious.