- The date palm has a red weevil problem, but FAO is on it.
- Refried beans.
- Sarada Krishnan on her life in coffee. If there’s good news for the crop, it’s partly because of her.
- Mangalitsa in Rome. Jeremy reports.
- ICBA joins the international genebank club. FAO is on it.
Brainfood: Forage seeds, Meat is murder, Medieval farming, Bean breeding, Moth bean genomics, Red List definitions, Amaranth domestication, Seed networks, Local adaptation, Social norms, Food demand, Grasspea future, Strawberry evolution, Maracuoccio
- Medium-term seed storage of diverse genera of forage grasses, evidence-based genebank monitoring intervals, and regeneration standards. One size does not fit all.
- Sustainability gridlock in a global agricultural commodity chain: Reframing the soy–meat food system. Divide and conquer.
- Farm establishment, abandonment and agricultural practices during the last 1,300 years: a case study from southern Sweden based on pollen records and the LOVE model. Medieval Swedes got high.
- A review of breeding objectives, genomic resources, and marker-assisted methods in common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.). Oh dear, a worldwide catalogue of germplasm needed.
- Construction of genetic linkage map and genome dissection of domestication-related traits of moth bean (Vigna aconitifolia), a legume crop of arid areas. No word on whether a catalogue is needed.
- Resources and opportunities for re-establishing Lathyrus cicera L. as a multipurpose cultivated plant. I’d try it. But do a catalogue first.
- Ex situ seed banks and the IUCN Red List. When is extinct not extinct?
- Convergent seed color adaptation during repeated domestication of an ancient new world grain. Grain amaranth selected 3 times independently from same wild precursor, but always for the same colour.
- Modeling epidemics in seed systems and landscapes to guide management strategies: The case of sweetpotato in Northern Uganda. Spread of disease depends on where it starts. Watch out for places with lots of out-nodes.
- A Molecular View of Plant Local Adaptation: Incorporating Stress-Response Networks. Adaptation here does not necessarily mean no adaptation there. Interesting for breeders?
- Using social norms to encourage healthier eating. To get kids to eat broccoli, tell them their favourite youtuber does. Probably generalizable.
- Nutrition Transition and the Structure of Global Food Demand. Lower growth in overall food demand than in the past, but a doubling of demand for animal calories.
- Grass pea (Lathyrus sativus L.): orphan crop, nutraceutical or just plain food? Needs to shed its bad image.
- Origin and evolution of the octoploid strawberry genome. All four parents tracked down.
Nibbles: Food biodiversity, Crowdsourcing seeds, A2S, Women & seeds, Cowpea breeding, Heirlooms vs GM, Green Revolution revisionism, Plant health book, ICRISAT genebank, Chinese national genebank, Tea research, Paper mulberry genome, Grape map, Italian olive apocalypse
- Chefs innovating with biodiversity.
- Citizen seed science comes of age.
- Which is just as well, because seed companies could be doing a better job.
- Though women are trying.
- Hang on there, the private sector set to rescue the cowpea.
- A tale of two paradigms.
- But is one of the paradigms in trouble?
- 50 years of plant health research in Africa.
- Greening the genebanks.
- But how green is “China’s Noah’s Ark“?
- And does it have any tea?
- Fortunately, the paper mulberry’s genome is consistent with Chinese philosophy.
- Italy’s vineyards get mapped.
- It may be too late for Italy’s olives though.
Nibbles: Homeric food, Two atlases, Cacao breeding, Smart foods, Lancet/EAT, Wild grapes, Landrace maize, Training breeders, Apios, Sustainable use, Cost of nutrition
- Did Homeric heroes eat a lot of meat? The answer will surprise you. A thread.
- Social food atlas to be launched.
- Atlas of West African food systems already launched. Very different thing.
- Saving chocolate through biotech.
- What makes foods smart?
- Pros and cons of the Lancet/EAT thing. And more.
- Waking up the wine industry to the beauty grapevine wild relatives.
- The magos of maize, from Mexico to the US, and back again.
- Plant breeding training in Africa.
- Pre-colonial North America: not wilderness, not dense forest, and not just the Three Sisters, lots of Apios too. Lots.
- Food AND biodiversity.
- Nutritious OR affordable.
Nibbles: Fox burials, Myammar genebank, Wild rice, Community genebanks, Breeding cowpeas & EAH bananas, Doherty pics, Pulque ecotourism, Tree diversity maps, Horizontal genes, Polish hop breeding
- Did ancient Iberians domesticate foxes?
- Myanmar genebank staff receive training in Australia.
- Why genebanks are important. Though not so much for wild rice. No, not that wild rice, we’re talking Zizania here.
- Genebanks can be community-friendly.
- Improving cowpea and banana. Need genebanks for that.
- Picturing genebanks.
- Drinking for conservation.
- Mapping tree diversity.
- Some grasses steal genes from neighbours.
- Polish hops for Polish beer.