- Modelling adoption of biofortified crops is no substitute for empirical field surveys. Kind of obvious, but I guess needed saying.
- Kenyans may not need biofortified crops, though. Assuming they are actually eating their traditional vegetables.
- There’s a whole genebank for Africa’s vegetables.
- Saba senegalensis is also naturally biofortified.
- The High Atlas Foundation is also on a fruit tree mission
- Is the date palm the most important fruit tree in the world, though?
- I wonder what will happen to USDA’s fruit tree collections.
Nibbles: SOTW report, Food prices, Rex Bernardo, Odisha landraces, Cyprus community seedbank, Haiti seed producers, Trees for the Future, Iraq genebank, Sudan genebank, Climate-Conflict-Vulnerability Index, India SDG2,
- FAO explains why crop diversity matters.
- Well, for one thing, there’s food prices, that’s why.
- Ah, yes, crop diversity: “You gotta have it. You gotta use it. You gotta talk about it.”
- Odisha mainstreams landrace diversity in its seed system.
- Meanwhile, the Farmers Union of Cyprus is stashing seeds away in Community Bank of Cypriot Traditional Seeds.
- Looks a bit like the Groupements de Production Artisanale de Semences in Haiti. If you squint.
- If only there were some guidelines for managing such community seed banks.
- Iraqi Kurdistan gets in on the genebank act.
- Iraq used to have a genebank, but what happened to it has just happened in Sudan.
- Ah, to have a Climate—Conflict—Vulnerability Index so that such things could be predicted and steps taken.
- And a monitoring system and some targets would be good too.
Nibbles: COUSIN project, Breeding chat, Aardaker, Alternative beans, Grain amaranth, Iraqi seeds, Genebanks in peril
- The COUSIN project aims to conserve (trans situ, no less) and use crop wild relatives in Europe.
- That “use” part can be tough.
- But that doesn’t stop the fine people at Aardaia. At least where aardaker (Lathyrus tuberosus) is concerned.
- From alternative potatoes in the Netherlands to alternative beans in Indonesia. All in the cause of diversification.
- No need to find an alternative to amaranth in the American SW. Not with devoted chefs on the job.
- The Iraqi Seed Collective is taking seeds from American genebanks to that country’s diaspora in the US, and eventually back to Iraq itself. Maybe chefs will help.
- Good thing there are genebank backups, eh?
Nibbles: Cherokee Three Sisters, Australian native grains, Ancient Peruvian irrigation, Indian apples, IFOAM Seed Platform, MSB, Chinese conservation, Protected areas, Soybeans breeding, Funding cuts
- Three Sisters rematriated to historical Cherokee Nation.
- Native grains returning to Indigenous land in Australia too.
- May need to bring back agricultural practices too, like in Peru.
- Meanwhile, in India, farmers are trying to grow apples in new places. Go figure.
- Anyway, seems like the IFOAM Seeds Platform might be able to help.
- And genebanks too of course, like the Millennium Seed Bank.
- As part of a comprehensive conservation systems, goes without saying, like in China.
- Which also include climate-proof protected areas.
- It worked for soybeans, after all.
- Well, for now anyway…
Nibbles: Maize history, Maize in Tanzania, WorldVeg feature, Pigeonpea speed breeding, Valuing nature in food, GIAHS, Ancient Egyptian brewing redux
- The history of maize — according to Pioneer.
- The importance of maize — according to Dr Mujuni Sospeter Kabululu, Curator, National Plant Genetic Resources Centre—Tanzania.
- The future of vegetables — according to WorldVeg.
- The future of pigeonpea — according to ICRISAT.
- How should we value nature in our food systems? By true cost accounting — according to TABLE.
- A good way to value nature in our food systems is through recognizing Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems — according to FAO.
- How strong was ancient Egyptian beer? Not very — according to ethnoarcheobotanists. But it’s still worth trying to reproduce it — according to me. Seneb!