Nibbles

Nibbles: CG diversity pix smackdown, ARTs in Bolivia, Fruits in Central Asia, Terra-i, FAO land use data, Agroforestry, Nagoya, Microwaves, Taxonomist Day, Spring!, Right to Food, Pacific food

Some fabulous photos of maize diversity from CIMMYT. (IRRI says, I see your diverse maize, and raise you diverse rice.)
Hope neither goes the way of that of some Andean roots and tubers in Bolivia. Or fruits in Central Asia. Though neither is doing terribly, in truth.
And too bad you can’t monitor that the way you can forests. Or land use in general for that matter.
World Agroforestry Centre calls for more, er, agroforestry. Will Defra listen?
Maybe it’s too busy consulting on the Nagoya Protocol. Wonder how good that will be for agroforestry.
I don’t care what anyone says, I like microwaves.
Wait, we missed Hug a Taxonomist Day?
And Persian New Year?
De Schutter’s final report. Main message not lost on the Pacific island countries.

CIP’s genebank in the limelight.
Egypt’s genebank in the limelight.
Australia’s genebank in the limelight. Limelight fast running out…
Ah, but genebanks not the only ones with cool videos: farmers in the limelight.
Yeah, it’s not just about the genebanks. Markets can help, I suppose. Especially if you have a famous name.
As with coffee, so with sorghum. Biofortified or not. All we need now is an agribusiness incubator, and here it is, courtesy of ICRISAT. But what will Japanese farmers think?
Same again for assorted African oils?
The diversity of cows has been driven by markets too.
Coffee 101 at UCDavis. Maybe they’ll invite Mr Marley to teach.
You want fructose in that coffee? No, probably not.
Maybe you prefer chocolate. From Vanuatu, natch. Looks like high quality stuff too, but even crap chocolate has its uses, like teaching taxonomy for instance.
No, you’re more a Japanese bourbon person, aren’t you? Wait, do you need barley for that? I’m sure those young Japanese farmers will be all over this.

Lots to catch up on, strap yourselves in.
The South’s original peanut is the Carolina African runner, and it is in need of help.
Saudi Aramco World does its usual class number, this time on chili peppers. And, in a similar vein, more than you probably want to know about Tabasco sauce.
The evolution of DNA sequencing. In 76 slides, no less, but worth it.
Japanese rice grown in Uruguay for U.S. hipsters. Gotta love globalization.
Sustainable salmon at long last?
Mind the gender gap.
Latest modelling suggests 2% crop yield decline per decade, assuming modest 2 degree C rise in temperatures by 2050. The original paper. We are so screwed. (Well, Uruguayan rice growers and U.S. hipsters aren’t, not so much.) No, really. No, wait…
You know, if we need supercomputers to tell us that forest corridors are good for seed dispersal, it’s no wonder we can’t stop global warming. Just kidding, I think it’s great that supercomputers get a break from climate models every once in a while. Oh, and isolated trees not entirely useless either.
Native wild bumblebees also in trouble, not just honeybees.
So did you miss us? Even more tomorrow to clear the decks.

Hey, let’s clone a plant!
Agricultural biodiversity in Colombia. Settle down in the back, this is about sustainable intensification.
They’re at it in Nepal too, using community biodiversity management to, er, manage community biodiversity. Here’s how they restored the Rupa lake watershed.
Now all the Nepalese need is for some award-winning Masaai film-makers to share their expertise.

People are ready with their reactions to the Great EU Seed Law Thing.
Bananas seem ready once again for their decadal extinction story.
Those nice people saving crop wild relatives are ready with a new Twitter account to follow.
The wheat diversity of Nepal will soon be ready for science.
And The Boston Globe is ready with its own story about seed libraries.