Nibbles

Nibbles: Genebank, Sweet wheat, Participatory Research, Land “grab”, Yampah, Vegetables, Tea, Chilling, Rainforest products, Asses, Climate proofing, Natural products

A look inside the big USDA genebank at Fort Collins. Whatever next?
Sweet wheat. Whatever next?
Farmers must participate in agricultural research in Europe. Whatever next?
“Come and farm our virgin lands, Ethiopia tells India.” Whatever.
“You may already know that yampah (Perideridia gairdneri) is a North American umbellifer.” Er, no. Tell me more.
After cloves, vegetables? Zanzibar’s farmers increase productivity.
More news for Luigi’s MIL: Future Climate Scenarios for Kenya’s Tea Growing Areas.
Is this the end of trail mix?
Body Shop uses wins award for using Cameroonian rainforest honey and wax from CIFOR-supported beekeeping project.
Fancy a glass of ass’s milk? Totally SFW.
Everybody is climate-proofing crops.
The BBC looks at medicinal plants.

The CGIAR spatial crowd get it together? Not holding my breath.
So tell me about that biodiversity-poverty link. Well, more research is, ahem, needed. Wet, for want of a better word.
All the different kinds of “spots” for livestock diseases. How did they cope with the poor data? And have the various hotspots and coldspots been considered in drawing up the new research priorities for livestock?
UNDP stumps up $4 million to plan biodiversity management in Romania. Including agrobiodiversity? Not holding my breath.
A socio-economic impact analysis of cultural diversity in cities does not consider agriculture at all. There’s a PhD there for someone.
IUCN’s plans for the Iraqi marshes. Thesiger unavailable for comment.
If it can be done with amphibians, why the hell can’t it be done with agricultural biodiversity?
Biojoy swamps Bioversity as Biohappiness book is launched.
Yeah but was there any of this? And if not, why not? Via NWFP-Digest-L.

Ancient Maoris traded kiwi feathers. What’s that you say? Kiwis are not agrobiodiversity? Says who?
Did organized religion come before agriculture? It’s a toss-up, frankly.
Looking for wild spinach. Ah, to be in the field again!
How to use a plant press. With video goodness. Ah, to be in the field again! Ok, settle down now, back to the grind.

ICARDA saves the world.
No, ICRISAT saves the world.
You’re both wrong, it’s CIAT.
No, wait, maybe it’s CIMMYT. Oh I give up.
Actually it’s fungi.
Or maybe tissue culture?
Surely it can’t be five unknown vegetables?
Could it be that it’s the Mediterranean diet? And that UNESCO will screw it up for all of us?

The old go-intensive-so-we-don’t-have-to-plough-up-Nature-for-more-farmland argument rears its beautiful head again.
Frosty pod rot comes to Latin America’s cacao, but CATIE has the varieties.
But clove is not so lucky.
Value addition, the Kenyan way.