- Bioversity DG “jubilant” at Nagoya Protocol.
- A video plug for the biofortification conference.
- Native potatoes on foodie agenda.
- A date palm festival. In the US.
- The success of species introductions.
- Italian acorn cakes deconstructed. I’m told the people able to recognize these sweet acorns are few and old.
- Calling times on biological names. Whoa!
- Saving heirloom mielies.
- What the heck is happening with phosphorus anyway?
- Panamanian farmers don’t like to grow (some) native trees on their farms because of slow growth rates.
- Eating medieval weeds.
- Latest from Pavlovsk. I have no idea what’s going on anymore.
- Lactase persistence due to cold.
- Genetics says plague came from China.
Hey, Michelle, how about planting some of Obama’s heritage?
An article on an NBC website explains that Michelle Obama’s White House Garden contains lots of varieties from Thomas Jefferson’s gardens at Monticello, in nearby Virginia. Jefferson’s memory has accreted a whole lot of factoids, but it is undeniable that he was keenly interested in agricultural biodiversity and tried all sorts of things out at Monticello, many of them new to the new country. He also most famously said:
“The greatest service which can be rendered any country is to add a useful plant to its [agri]culture.”
Michelle’s example is surely inspiring different behaviour to do with gardening and eating, not to mention edible diversity. So just think what a message it would send if she grew some of the local traditional vegetables of hubby Barack’s native Kenya? These crops were long neglected by rural and urban dwellers alike because they were perceived as backward? They are slowly making a comeback, thanks in part to celebrity endorsements. An endorsement by the Obamas would top them all.
Call us! We can help.
Nibbles: Studentship, Cowpeas, Chocolate, Quinoa, Rice in Madagascar, Jackfruit, Wheat breeding, Indian diversity
- PhD student from East Africa wanted to study greenhouse gases, biochar and other cool stuff.
- Weevils eat half the cowpea harvest. Solution in the bag.
- Ecuadorian chocolate experts visit the World Bank. Did they bring samples?
- Lots of ecdysteroids in quinoa. Not clear to me if this is good or bad.
- Yes, Malagasy rice is different.
- Evaluating a Dang Rasimi jackfruit. Looks pretty good to me.
- Crop wild relatives in genebanks help with drought tolerance in wheat.
- Meta-paper on livelihoods diversity in rice-wheat-livestock systems Indo-Gangetic Plains has no room for varietal diversity in rice-wheat.
The agrobiodiversity of Wayanad District in Kerala
An extremely long explanation of the wonderful “‘home garden’ system” ((Their scare quotes, not mine.)) of Wayanad District in the south Indian state of Kerala, from the Satoyama savants at UN University. There’s a video, natch, which is very pretty and very informative. One scene of four women pounding what looks like millet looks lovely, dangerous, and unnecessary. Couldn’t they get a mini-mill?
What I don’t get is why the headline says “South Indian agricultural model mimics fragile ecosystem”. Looks to me like the agricultural model is a lot more robust and resilient than the ecosystem. But what do I know?
Nibbles: Bean gap analysis, Protected areas 2.0, NZ livestock, French boar, Taro in Hawaii, UNEP, Moringa, False flax, Hordeum
- Let “The Bean Counters” show you where to collect wild Phaseolus.
- Protected areas get wikified.
- Expensive book published on the heritage breeds of New Zealand.
- Wild boar going crazy in France.
- Another Hawaiian taro festival. And why not.
- Ecosystems for climate change adaptation. No agroecosystems though.
- Moringa! Not just for people.
- Camelina! Not just for Europeans.
- What is it about barley wild relatives lately?