- Bumper wheat crop forecast. Norman Borlaug comments: “looming catastrophe”.
- Sunflower may have been domesticated independently in Mexico, as well as in the Eastern US.
- Neglected and novel? A cautionary tale about The Miracle Berry from the BBC. Via.
- Hold the phone! World Bank says countries are not going to meet the Millennium Development Goals. Via.
Non-wood forest products highlighted
The new NWFP-Digest is online, and as usual points to some great information, including lots of stuff on bamboo for some reason this month. And I don’t know how I missed the great article on women cashing in on indigenous trees in Tanzania when it first came out back in March.
E-discussion on neglected plants
Our friends at the Global Facilitation Unit for Underutilized Plants have informed us that CTA has helped them set up an e-forum to follow up the recommendations of the recent conference in Arusha. Do join in!
Pacific Island Food Leaflets
Lois Englberger has alerted me to the fact that my former colleagues at the SPC nutrition section in Noumea have put six new Pacific Island Food Leaflets online. Well worth a look. CTA helped with the funding.
Going down to the market
Markets for agrobiodiversity to the fore today. Two resources highlighted by Eldis look at strategies for agricultural diversification and at the importance of assessing market potential in prioritizing among indigenous fruit trees for promotion and development. And once you get your high-value agricultural product to market you will want to guard against pilferage and counterfeiting, won’t you?