Nibbles

Nibbles: Farm size, Evidence-based policy, Priority sites, Tibetan grasslands, Sustainable intensification, Lipid improvement, Medicinal plants, Local fish, Wheat access, Purple yam,

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.

Over-exploitation threatens extinction for the Cliff Banana Ensete superbum.
Non-fishy omega–3s from an underexploited Peruvian plant, sacha inchi or Plukenetia huayllabambana. Maybe extinction will soon beckon.
Rewarding Kenyan dairy farmers for reducing harmful (bovine) emissions with no direct payments.
“Eat millet and steer clear of disease” is the cry taken up by women in Madurai, Tamil Nadu.
AoB blogger drinks deep of fermentative biodiversity.
And if you happen to be in Hawaii on 2 March, and are a fan of breadfruit and coconut, don’t miss The Second Annual Puna ‘Ulu Festival—‘Ulu a me Niu.

Is it too early to be talking about drought in the US?
Or about collaborations between forestry and agriculture?
How about the sustainable intensification of African agriculture?
Enough of these rhetorical question, I hear you cry. Give us information! About wild greens on Crete.
Or one person’s view of two remarkable tomatoes.
Or how farmers in India seek – and find – seeds of older and traditional varieties.
In Basalt, Colorado, you just pop into your local library. Rock on.
In Toronto, Ontario, you watch TV to learn how your ex-overlords in Britain doubled food production in a few short growing seasons.
And in Europe? You’re grateful to have received the same reply to your concerns about agricultural biodiversity as everyone else who shares those concerns.

Should global unique identifiers (GUIDs) refer to digital records or physical objects? Not sure I’ve ever said anything quite so geeky.
ICRISAT to use molecules to breed pigeonpeas.
Small Amazon farmers not the enemy after all.
Coffee rust never sleeps. Hopefully neither do coffee breeders.
Put 4-24 March in your diary. What do you mean why. FAO Biotechnology Forum e-mail conference on “Current and future impacts of genomics for the crop, forestry, livestock, fishery and agro-industry sectors in developing countries.” That’s why.
Get your mobile data collection solution here.
“Traditional farming hold all the aces.” And yet it must be protected with all kinds of international treaties.

Off-colour jokes pumped out with abandon as Viagra fungus splashed all over headlines.
Two of my favourite words in one conference: sustainable and chocolate. Can I get some archaeology with that? Yes, you can. Trifecta!
Prefer beer to chocolate? We’ve got you covered.
Sudden oak death mapping gets all interactive. Will nobody do something similar for agrobiodiversity?
The geography of the onion. No, not The Onion. And not interactive.
Go online, young scientist! Even if it involves giving banana research priority setting a Facebook page? Well, why not.
Whoa, there’s an Urban Agriculture Summit?
Citrus australasica? Seriously?
CGIAR crown jewels safe at last. No off-colour headlines, please.
Some genebanks doing ok, others not so much.
Gut microbiome kinda sorta implicated in kwashiorkor. And more from NYT.