Nibbles

January 6, 2015

Nibbles: Eggplant, Potato seeds, Survey report

Let’s take this nice and slow …

A history of the eggplant, and its usurpation. Is that even a word?
The fun to be had from a few true ~~friends~~ potato seeds.
It’s out! “Lessons learned about ways and means to conserve and use genetic diversity to build resilience to climate change in food and agriculture systems survey report” (PDF)

December 12, 2014December 11, 2014

Nibbles: Svalbard recruitment, Barley breeding video, Orphan crops breeding, Agroforestry double, Afghan pomegranate, Australian hazlenut, DivSeek video, Raspberry breeding video, Strawberry fungi, OFSP, Genebanks, Old chiles, Mexican cuisine, Shakesperean sallat, Dietary diversity, Seed exchange, European wild animals, Dutch AnGR, UK indicators, Millets promotion, Wheat extravaganza, Deforestation map, Chickens & turkeys, Ancient horses, Kenyan grass, Olive pests, Penang anniversary

Sorry about the light blogging lately. I’m on leave and Jeremy is in the manure. Thankfully Robert has been picking up the slack lately, apparently because he has nothing better to do. Anyway, here’s a juicy roundup of Nibbles covering the past week and more. Starting with this stunner: Svalbard needs an adviser!
Breeding better barley: The video. No videos, however, on breeding Africa’s orphan crops. Yet.
Some of those are agroforestry species. Which is not confined to Africa, of course. But pomegranate is not included, alas for the Afghans. Nor the hazlenut, alas for the Australians, who will however admittedly probably sequence the thing themselves.)
DivSeek does have a video, though.
Even raspberry breeding has a video. But if this strawberry hack works for other plants, breeders might not be needed at all :)
Orange-fleshed sweet potato folks meet in Ghana for annual jamboree.
An insurance policy for agriculture? Yes, you guessed it.
Recovering the NM chile. Hot stuff from a cold place. Yes, you guessed it. Again. (BTW, not only important in New Mexico.
How to make a 17th century sallat. You heard me.
CIAT on getting ahead of dietary trends. No, not from the 17th century. This being the current situation, however. And more specifically for dietary diversity among women. Yes, it’s all about diversification. Including in homegardens. Which were the great love of the great, late Olga Linares.
The benefits would be so great to get nutrition right. And yet we haven’t. And without Olga it’s not going to be any easier. Maybe we could start by curing Indians of their pizza habit.
The largest seed exchange in the world. It says here. There I was thinking it was the CGIAR genebanks.
Rewilding Europe. Kinda sorta.
The Dutch have new policies on conserving livestock genetic resources. At least yaks are not an issue.
Meanwhile, the UK biodiversity indicators include one on crop genetic diversity.
Maybe all it needs is better marketing, like these millets?
Or perhaps a data portal, like wheat’s.
Which may soon be out of date for the Punjab. Or should be, anyway, according to this IFPRI study. And also for the US, according to this maverick breeder getting a writeup in the NY Times.
Be that as it may, help is on the way for wheat, in the form of its wild relatives. According to some people who should know.
Interactive global deforestation map. Because we can.
Black chicken? And why not? Not Icelandic, though, I’m willing to bet. Chickens? “…it was the forced opening of China by the West in the 1840s that made the modern [chicken] possible.” Not so the turkey, though.
Ancient horse breeders liked spots. And then they didn’t. And then they did…
Disease resistant Napier grass in Kenya. Must ask the mother-in-law whether she has some.
Oh dear, Italian olives are in trouble. Again. Ah, yes, the olive, symbol of peace.
Penang Botanic Gardens has a big birthday.
Hope that keeps you going for a while…

November 28, 2014November 29, 2014

Nibbles: Quasilocavore, Returning potatoes, Singapore veggies, Floating gardens, Timber trees, Allanblackia, Cranberry glut, Wild turkeys

Sure, eat locally. But not too much.
Andean farmers don’t have much of a choice about eating locally, but at least now they have more potato varieties to choose from.
Growing your own is about as local as you can get in Singapore.
Maybe they should do it the Bangladeshi way.
A list of the world’s commercial timber trees (pdf). Can’t help thinking they should have made more of this.
Which doesn’t include Allanblackia.
Let them eat cranberries.
Wild turkey with that?

November 27, 2014

Nibbles: R&D, Cheese double, Cali candied yams, Sustainable joe, Soy & deforestation, Cereals in Sudan, Big Ag, History of breeding

ASTI says agricultural research investment in Africa is bearing fruit and needs to double.
There’s a cheese revolution going on in America’s heartland.
Meanwhile, the UK is worried about fake goat cheese.
“Apparently, Californians like well-tanned sweetpotatoes.” Well of course they do.
Good coffee AND conservation? I’ll take it.
Soy AND conservation in Brazil? Well, not quite, but good news nonetheless.
Cereal cultivation in Sudan pushed back several hundred years.
What are the conditions for success in large-scale agricultural initiatives? You tell them.
The history of crop improvement 101.

November 26, 2014November 26, 2014

Nibbles: Hunger Games, Nutritious markets, Plant secrets, Nutrition soundbites, Buckwheat panic, Olive oil panic, Cannabis breeding, Wild turkey genetics, Quinoa wars, Domestication infographics, Howard-Yana Shapiro

Do they know it’s Christmas? Stocking-filling books for do-gooders.
Wonder if any of them talk about using markets to deliver nutritious food.
The surprising secrets of baobabs, among other plants. I thought we knew all there was to know about baobabs, what with all those factsheets.
The Global Nutrition Report in 12 sound-bites. No sign of baobabs.
Russians in a tizzy about their buckwheat. If only they’d had a factsheet.
Everybody in a tizzy about European olive oil. Maybe they should try the American stuff?
“When skunk was created the people doing it had no idea they were altering the ratios of CBD and THC — they just kept breeding the plants that gave the strongest high and threw the rest away.” Ouch. But fear not, help is at hand.
Restoring wild turkey populations is screwing up its subspecific structure, pissing off taxonomists no end.
Bolivians do not appreciate cheap Peruvian quinoa. Hipsters unavailable for comment.
No, LA’s wild quinoa is not going to put too much of a dent in global food shortages, nor interest many hipsters, but it’s a fun story. Too bad wasn’t mashed up with the US crop wild relatives prize-winning paper.
Cool crop domestication infographics.
Plant geneticists are from Mars.