Nibbles

Nibbles: The Valentine’s Edition. What’s not to love?

If you love water, here are 35 ways to save it. Part 1 and Part 2, 3 & 4 to come.
I love the idea of tattooed apples.
How can you not love low-arsenic rice varieties from Bangladesh? Maybe because they might be opening a hornets’ nest.
The video camera loves farmers, and the feeling’s mutual. Extension is ready for its close-up.
It’s a short step from over-exploitation to domestication. Lovely news for …
… Malagasy farmers, who could love their wild yams to death. Good thing they’re nuts for cultivated yams.
Darwinian Agriculture embraces a well-argued contrary view, even though Ford doesn’t necessarily agree.
I like the idea of an online almanac for local climate change observations, but I’d love it even more if it went global.
The ever-contrary Matt Ridley is happy to reaffirm his love for intensive agriculture because “with cheap light, an urban, multi-story hydroponic warehouse the size of Delaware could feed the world, leaving the rest for wilderness”.
Gene Logsdon would love to see this headline: “Monsanto retreating before invading pigweed hordes.” Dream on, Gene.
And what would today be without chocolate? I love that things are never as simple as they seem, even in the realm of Theobroma cacao.

How much evidence do you need that farming came into Europe with farmers?
Defra report on the UK’s animal genetic resources. Interestingly enough, no edible horse breeds listed.
CIP et al. set up network for the nutritional enhancement of toots and rubers.
So apparently sustainable diets need a business case. Ah, the sorry failed lexicon of contemporary managerialism!
USAID thinks the pomegranate is an exotic fruit in Azerbaijan.

Today’s genomic breakthrough involves kernel number in maize.
Neolithic people overhunted, then thought better of it.
Was guinea fowl ever domesticated, I wonder?
How to figure out if you’ve looked hard enough. For plants, that is. And some discussion.
Gin is in trouble. But help is at hand.
A workshop on chocolate and vanilla. My kinda event. And chocolate does need help. Gin, chocolate. Pretty soon life wont be worth living.
Simran Sethi’s Twitter chat after TEDxManhattan was storified, but it’s gone now of course. Try this instead.
Final say on that IPBES-1 gabfest.
And the first say on that “Global Consultation on agricultural biodiversity for sustainable food security” thing.

Small is beautiful. No, wait… And more from where that came, ahem, from.
Evidence? We don’t need no stinking evidence.
CIAT blogs about a workshop about a model about prioritization about populations about breeding about beans. While its peach palm thing gets picked up.
Tibetan grasslands feel the heat. Not entirely certain why ICRAF should care, but it’s good to know.
Peaches compatible with maize in Bolivian agrobiodiversity hotspot. Not nearly enough info in this release, will need to chase it up. And here it is.
Rothamstead engineers lipids. But it’s for better nutrition, so that’s ok.
Trad med in RSA.
Fish as an ingredient of complementary foods. Nutritious, I’m sure, but I suspect Crocodile Dundee’s comment on the iguana applies.
US wheat breeders worried about access. Maybe if the country ratified the ITPGRFA?
Filipinos really like purple sweets, apparently. Here are some made of purple yam, ube, Dioscorea alata, call it what you will.