Neglected species

Nibbles: Genomes, Sorghum squared, Tropical forests, UG99, Vanilla, Himalayan agriculture

And today’s 500 genomes are … h/t OpenHelix.
FAO uses sorghum to deliver food security in Matabeleland North.
Meanwhile … science alert: sorghum’s family tree delineated, scope for breeding from wild relatives.
Small family farms can provide lots of food and preserve tropical forest biodiversity, say researchers. Actual paper not yet available.
Wired magazine does UG99 wheat rust. Read it and weep.
And in other fungus news, Fusarium hits vanilla in Kerala.
“Ladakh’s youth … are increasingly switching from backbreaking agriculture in the harsh terrain to more profitable jobs in the booming tourism industry.” Twas ever thus.

Wanna grow plants in the Jordanian desert? Invest $250,000.
Wanna grow plants in the Maharashtra summer? Invest $20.
There’s a world saffron crocus collection. Who knew? A review is coming.
Coloured chickpeas contain more antioxidants. Well, yeah.
SciDev.net says scientists say coastal trees not much good against tsunamis, and may be bad news generally.
Rhizowen crosses species barriers, develops ficifoliaphilia, poor chap.

Nagib Nassar challenges the wisdom of GM cassava. Cultivate indigenous and wild varieties of the crop!
Or fonio (Digitaria exilis). New paper on its diversity.
And for dessert? Wild apple diversity?
Need salad? How about Salicornia then?
Nice aurochs steak to go with the salad?
Not too soon to start planning a future harvest, if you’re in Ireland and want seeds.

Rebuilding Haiti’s agriculture on the back of diverse tissue-cultured banana plantlets.
Rhizowen’s hidden talets. And no, that’s not a misprint.
“The age long drink, also known as BKT, serves as a source of alcohol for those who lack the financial means to patronise refined brew like beer and other foreign or imported drinks.” Count me in.
Citrus diversity — is the genetic blueprint the only way to enjoy it?
The collapse of wild-caught fish. In brief.