Neglected species – Page 31 – Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog

March 8, 2022March 8, 2022

The three S’s of medieval salads

There’s a thread on the Twitter feed of The Delicious Legacy Podcast about that holy trinity of somewhat weird medieval root vegetables: skirret, salsify and scorzonera.

THREAD:
Skirret, Salsify, Scorzonera…
These are root vegetables, once popular, and eaten in almost every meal, in a pottage style stew mainly; it was the staple of many farmers…
What happened to them? Why don't we eat them any more?
1/x pic.twitter.com/V3iqLid9LZ

— The Delicious Legacy Podcast (@DeliciousLegacy) March 6, 2022

If you don’t like the bird site, check it out on ThreadReader.

I’m not sure I agree with everything in there. For example, potato and sweetpotato can absolutely have complex flavours, and I doubt any of these three admittedly now marginal roots could ever have been described as staples. But it’s nice to be reminded of crops which are going out of fashion, and could presumably come back into it, given a little push.

March 7, 2022March 16, 2022

Brainfood: Ukrainian edition

Characteristics of the resistance of spring wheat varieties to pathogens of leaf diseases typical for the zone of the Right-Bank Forest-Steppe of Ukraine. 3 of 19 varieties from the national genebank could be useful.
The adaptability of soft spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) varieties. 3 of 10 accessions from the national genebank had high general adaptive ability.
Investigation of the Carbohydrates of Camelina sativa (L.) Crantz and Camelina microcarpa Andrz. Levels of monosaccharides quantified in material from the national genebank.
Characteristic of morphological traits and biochemical indicators in Linum pubescens. A flax wild relative with ornamental potential.
Inheritance of productivity and its elements by hybrids and lines of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.). Lots of interesting variation to investigate further among F1-F6 hybrids.
Combining ability of self-pollined sunflower lines – parents of confectionery hybrids. Tasty material derived from genebank accessions.
Оil content in chickpea seeds of the national collection of Ukraine. Could do with more variation among the 43 accessions tested from the national genebank. But the whole collection is pretty important.
Plant genetic resources of Ukrainian Podillia. Results of a 2019 collecting expedition by the national genebank.
Genetic relatedness of sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) cultivars from Ukraine determined by microsatellite markers. Ukrainian cultivars combine genetic material of local, western European, and Caucasian origin.
Characteristics of different varieties of the pea (Pisum sativum L.) in the zone of the Southern Forest-Steppe of Ukraine. Some of 30 newly introduced pea varieties might be useful in increasing productivity.
Progress in Japanese quinces breeding in Ukraine. Since 1913!
Molecular diversity in the Ukrainian melon collection as revealed by AFLPs and microsatellites. 38 accessions fall into the 3 standard genetic groups.
The history of sunflowers in Ukraine. Not peer-reviewed, but anyway.

Nibbles: Chinese crop diversity, Reforestation, Seed swapping, Biofortification

China does a census of crop diversity for its genebank.
Getting birds to help replant forests in early modern Japan.
Swapping seeds in Bristol.
The complementary roles of fortification and biofortification.

February 28, 2022February 25, 2022

Brainfood: Spatial data, Extinction risk, Improved lentils, Lentil collection, Ohia germination, Shea genomics, Wild olive, Cacao climate refugia, Cacao sacred groves, Italian winter squash, Nigerian yams, Bambara groundnut diversity

CropHarvest: A global dataset for crop-type classification. 90,000 datapoints all over the world, nicely labelled with what’s going on there agriculturally speaking. Let the AI rip.
Using publicly available data to conduct rapid assessments of extinction risk. Pretty much useless, but at least now we know why. Should have used AI.
Plot-level impacts of improved lentil varieties in Bangladesh. About 15% higher yields and gross margins, resulting in lots of savings on imports.
Agro-Morphological Characterization of Lentil Germplasm of Indian National Genebank and Development of a Core Set for Efficient Utilization in Lentil Improvement Programs. And a core subset to boot. Unclear if any were used to breed the above.
Variation in Germination Traits Inform Conservation Planning of Hawaiʻi’s Foundational ʻŌhiʻa Trees. Germination was lower from some populations than from others, but not because of environmental factors.
Genomic Resources to Guide Improvement of the Shea Tree. Ok, great, but now what exactly? And no word on germination…
Current Status of Biodiversity Assessment and Conservation of Wild Olive (Olea europaea L. subsp. europaea var. sylvestris). When can we expect something similar for shea tree?
Extreme climate refugia: a case study of wild relatives of cacao (Theobroma cacao) in Colombia. The forest areas where wild cacao has survived the longest, and is particularly diverse, will be cut in half in 50 years. I wonder what the figures are for wild olive.
Soil biomarkers of cacao tree cultivation in the sacred cacao groves of the northern Maya lowlands. Maybe re-introduce it? More here.
How to save a landrace from extinction: the example of a winter squash landrace (Cucurbita maxima Duchesne) in Northern Italy (Lungavilla-Pavia). It’s great to have ‘Berrettina di Lungavilla’ back, but 7 years for one landrace? No sacred groves involved. Shea harvesters unavailable for comment.
Collection, characterizaton, product quality evaluation, and conservation of genetic resources of yam (Dioscorea spp.) cultivars from Ekiti State, Nigeria. At least it’s more than one landrace.
Genetic Diversity and Environmental Influence on Growth and Yield Parameters of Bambara Groundnut. 95 landraces, no less. All safe from extinction. Right?

February 24, 2022February 24, 2022

Nibbles: Wild coffee, Humble potato, Banana seeds video, Citizen Bean, Svalbard, Microlivestock, Transhumance, Exotic tea, BIPOC heirlooms

The Food Programme does coffee wild relatives.
Potatoes are not that bad nutritionally.
Getting banana seeds.
Want to do citizen science with beans?
The latest from Svalbard.
Bugs again?
Counting sheep.
Weird tea is the best tea. But any tea will do in a pinch.
BIPOC communities saving heirloom seeds.

1. Modelling adoption of biofortified crops is no substitute for empirical field surveys. Kind of obvious, but I guess needed saying.
2. Kenyans may not need biofortified crops, though. Assuming they are actually eating their traditional vegetables.
3. There’s a whole genebank for Africa’s vegetables.
4. Saba senegalensis is also naturally biofortified.
5. The High Atlas Foundation is also on a fruit tree mission
6. Is the date palm the most important fruit tree in the world, though?
7. I wonder what will happen to USDA’s fruit tree collections.
Published on August 19, 2025