Nibbles

Nibbles: Small farmers, Wild bananas, Titan arum, Fish for diversity, Tenure, Treaty, Australian genebank, Mexican genebank, Mexican drought, Potato record, Khat and fodder in Ethiopia

On my signal, unleash the potential of small farmers and food producers worldwide. Has a return ring to it.
More than anyone could reasonably want to know about wild banana relatives in Thailand.
Big stinky flower with its own webcam. Must be a wild relative of something.
Better in many ways to catch a diversity of fish species than to focus on one.
Could probably do with some guidelines for access to fisheries, though, right?
International Seed Treaty secretariat knocks ‘em dead down under. “THREE-quarters of the world’s crop biodiversity has been irrevocably lost since 1900.”
Of course it has. Did Dr Bhatti visit this place during his tour of Oz, I wonder? If not, maybe he’ll visit Mexico next and see this place. And speaking of Mexico…
Mexico sneezes, US grain exports catch a cold?
World record potato harvest in Bihar; there’s a lot that’s fishy about this story.
“Khat cultivation in Ethiopia fuels economy, reduces deforestation.” And makes people sick, but who’s counting.
Ah but here’s a possible alternative. Now, if only CIFOR and ILRI would talk together about this.

Michael Halewood in Genebank Policy Hell.
Vavilov in Genebank Database Hell.
A guide through Clonal Crops Conservation Hell.
Pakistan contemplates genebank for carp “pure line and improved stairs for SAARC countries.” Bicycles next, I suppose. But will Ghana follow suit?
Meanwhile across the border, India is putting resources into livestock conservation at both national and state level.
Italian broccoli variety moves to Florida and makes the big time.
And ancient Egyptian gardens make the big time in Amsterdam. Too bad it wont be possible to exchange seeds.
I bet those ancient Egyptians had taro. They certainly had wheat and barley.
But not quinoa, alas, despite what Thor Heyerdahl might have thought.

Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda will invest $1.2 million each over the next three years to revive the Institute of Agricultural and Zootechnical Research. Local solutions to global problems.

What words should we use? “[B]est management practices” or “more casual words like local, family-owned and farmer”.
Words like “farming”. How to make a living “farming” without leaving your armchair. Via.
Hungry work, that. If only I had a slice of acorn-finished pork to finish.
Someone else who would like that: where in the world is Luigi Guarino? Wherever “it is imperative that genetic diversity is maintained for posterity.”