- A North Macedonian professor’s 15-year rescue mission for landraces and crops surviving only in remote villages. Why bother? Stay tuned…
- Ancient grapevines in Tigray represent a unique genetic lineage with potential value for breeding varieties adapted to dryland conditions.
- Hawai’i Public Radio checks in on Maui’s coconut genebank. Useful to breed varieties adapted to really wet conditions, presumably.
- The Cayman Islands are also hoarding coconuts, along with lots of tasty fruits.
- A USD 400,000 boost from Taiwan for the Eswatini national genebank. Indigenous vegetables get much-needed love.
- A regional survey of 25 orphan crops across 13 Latin American countries finds quinoa and amaranth well-catalogued, but characterization budgets are the real bottleneck. Collecting and conserving in genebanks is great, but not enough.
- South Korea puts 330,000 seed accessions under “double lock”, hedging against both climate change and war. Conserving in one place is not enough.
- FAO warns that nearly a third of the world can’t afford the USD 4.28 a day that a healthy diet costs — nearly three billion people, and rising. That’s why we need al the above, I guess.
Nibbles: Apple-banana paradox, Genebanks, Indian wheat, Indian wild rice, Kenya community seed banks, Wild coffee, Macadamia history, Taro research, Cacti
- Why the modern food system prizes uniformity even though resilience depends on diversity. Spoiler alert: follow the money.
- Historic crop varieties are finding renewed relevance as farmers contend with more volatile weather, emerging pests and changing markets. Let’s hope there’s money to conserve them.
- India’s traditional wheat varieties contain diversity that could help breeders develop crops better able to withstand heat and drought. Let’s hope there’s money to conserve them.
- India announces significant progress in conserving its wild rice genetic resources. Great that there was money to conserve them.
- Community seed banks across Kenya are calling for formal recognition and sustained support, arguing that locally managed collections strengthen seed sovereignty, preserve traditional varieties and help farming communities adapt to climate change. Yes, but are they enough without national genebanks?
- Researchers are racing to conserve wild coffee species whose genetic diversity may provide the resistance and resilience needed to secure tomorrow’s morning cup. Is the industry contributing, though ?
- New history of the macadamia traces its remarkable journey from Australia’s native forests to a global crop, while underscoring why conserving the remaining wild populations is essential for the crop’s long-term future.
- Researchers at the University of the South Pacific investigate how taro can withstand climate change, combining research with conservation to help protect one of the region’s most culturally and nutritionally important staple crops.
- Chester Zoo collects seeds from highly threatened cacti, because why not?
Nibbles: Kenyan crops, Omani mangoes, Wheat mixtures, Wagyu origins
- Kenyan farmers are rediscovering indigenous crops.
- Oman discovers it has lots of mango diversity, and moves to conserve it.
- Swedish student discovering varietal mixtures.
- Discover how a locally adapted cattle population in Japan became a globally recognized premium brand by maintaining distinctive genetic and breeding characteristics. Lessons there for all of the above perhaps?
Nibbles: Cayman coconuts, Wild beans, Breeding Bambara, Aussie genebank, UAE law, EBI, Amazonian ag
- The Cayman Islands bets on a genebank of coconut diversity.
- The Alliance of Bioversity & CIAT’s genebank bets on growth cabinets to save picky wild bean.
- IITA bets on stakeholders to build a better Bambara groundnut. And its genebank, presumably.
- The Australian Seed Bank Partnership bets on, well, seeds.
- The UAE bets on a PGRFA law.
- Ethiopia bet on a national genebank 50 years ago.
- People have been betting on the chagra in the Amazon for 4,500 years.
Nibbles: NSW genebank, Ghana genebank, Community seed bank standards, Kenya legislation, Valuing diversity, BBC on potato, Ube yams in Philippines, Strawberry anatomy and history
- Another genebank in Australia. Unclear how it relates to the existing ones.
- Ghana’s genebank in funding trouble.
- How to run a community seed bank, according to the Bureau of Indian Standards. Apparently includes things like its relationship with other genebanks and funding.
- How to change legislation in Kenya to be more supportive of genebanks.
- Why we need genebanks in the first place.
- Otherwise decent podcast on the potato manages not to mention genebanks.
- Otherwise decent article on ube (Dioscorea alata) manages not to mention genebanks.
- Otherwise excellent dissection of the strawberry manages not to mention genebanks.