- Bolivia ramps up coca production. Sniff.
- Tamil Nadu ramps up rice breeding.
- Bulgaria ramps up artisanal cheese production.
- Collaboration between organic and biotech ramped up. In other news, pigs fly.
- Ramp up use of microbes, microbiologist says. Nobody surprised.
- Americans ramp up production of purple potatoes.
- Everyone ramps up bean production. To save the planet, no less.
- Can agroforestry be used to ramp up tree conservation? Well, maybe?
- Need to ramp up sweet potato marketing.
Nibbles: Industrial diversity, Forget feed the world, Vegetable evolution, Housekeeping
Slightly extended, slightly fewer edition
- Corn (maize) and soybeans are the bogeymen of industrialised, monocropping agriculture, striking fear into the heart of biodiversity lovers everywhere. But, surprisingly, in the US, more than half the production comes from farms that grow at least two other crops. For real specialisation, you need to look at hay and rice. Big tip of the hat to Big Picture Agriculture for that one.
- And yet, corn and soybeans power the rhetoric of “US farmers feed the world,” despite more than 40% of US corn ending up as ethanol. (See what I did there?) Anyway, Margaret Mellon at the Union of Concerned Scientists thinks its time to move beyond that unhelpful phrase. “It is time,” she says, “to separate the issues of hunger alleviation and crop production.” It is way beyond time, I say.
- And then there’s this: “More Vegetables Evolving Chocolate-Sauce-Filled Centers As Evolutionary Imperative.”
- And we’re feeling an evolutionary imperative to shift this particular parasite to a new host. We’ll be attempting to do so over the weekend. With luck, you won’t notice a think when we resume on Monday. See you then.
Nibbles: Weeds, Poverty, Mycorrhizae, Gluten-free wheat, Vanilla, Different apples, Pashmina wool
- Oh dear, someone else has fallen for the “weeds are better for you” line, cautious question-mark notwithstanding.
- And guess what? The poor don’t buy nutritious foods. How silly of them.
- Great post explaining the great unseen: mycorrhizal fungi as drivers of plant diversity.
- Gluten-free wheat? Really (even if the links still don’t work).
- What would you video on honeymoon in Mexico? A visit to a vanilla plantation. What else?
- Conserving apples and earth apples at opposite ends of the world.
- Oh, no, pashmina’s in trouble!
Nibbles: CIAT strategy & genebank, Baked beans, Bambara groundnut meet, Malnutrition debate, Bee farming, Pineapple genomics, Sustainable intensification debate
- CIAT wants your help with its strategic planning. Read page 4 of the document: “…CIAT proposes to create a new genebank…”
- Breeding a better British baked bean. What, again? Or still.
- Talkin’ Bambara groundnut blues.
- Solutions for micronutrients deficiency, in general and in particular.
- Bees and yields take off in Kenya.
- Pineapple taste gene identified, spliced into sugarcane, to produce GMO piña colada. Made you look!
- Proponents of sustainable intensification are lickspittle lackeys tied to the apron-strings of the military-industrial complex.
Nibbles: Landscapes pod, Tartiness evolution, Diversity pix, Eve Crowley vid, Commons debate, Subsidies, Arabidopsis database, Beard beer, Kew herbarium vid, Minoan pests, FDish seeds, Extinction is forever
- CIFOR scientist talks about the much-vaunted landscape approach.
- The repeated evolution of lemony flavour.
- Nice infographic of breadfruit diversity in the Pacific.
- Better infographic of chili pepper diversity in Mexico. Both are on Facebook. Hope you guys can see them.
- FAO’s Eve Crowley is didactic and inspirational by turns about women, co-operatives and rural development.
- Hardin vs Ostrom. Walk-over.
- How much does production have to increase, really? Lobell deals the cards.
- What are the effects of input subsidies on maize prices in Malawi and Zambia? Small to none.
- Plant database to charge for access? Never a good idea.
- Ok, here’s a first, a beer I don’t altogether feel like tasting.
- Last days of the soybean homecoming show in Hong Kong. Anybody out there seen it?
- Video on the intricacies of Kew. Not as long as you’d think.
- Weevils in sweet pea jar pinpoint season of Santorini eruption. Has anyone tried to recover DNA from the seeds?
- Experts for ensuring quality fish seeds to enhance production. Say what?
- How should we mark the extinction of the passenger pigeon next year?