- Goats and seeds help southern Lebanon recover from war. But which breeds, what varieties?
- Dated desert date decides to drop dormancy.
- “Mobile clinics for sick plants.” Nice idea.
- China honours IRRI. Rice idea.
- World Bank economist says increased investment in agricultural research not enough, also need decent roads. Oh, and extension services. Media alerted.
- Crete’s Culinary Sanctuaries.
- “Towards Food Sovereignty” multimedia book etc. published by IIED.
Nibbles: Migration, Micronutrients, Taste, Kava, News, Data, Ozone, Chillis
- Rats to New Zealand.
- 300 grand grant to develop an iron bullet.
- Yummie, that tomato tastes very umami!
- “When they call their toxic products ‘kava’, they are misusing the word.”
- Subscribe to the Semilla Besada newsletter.
- Gates Foundation helps FAO improve African agricultural statistics. About time someone did.
- How to conserve rare plants.
- As if climate change is not bad enough, there’s also ozone to worry about. Thankfully, Michigan is on it.
- Boffin uses nanotubes to measure chilli hotness. Useful because some don’t like it hot.
Nibbles: IK, Environmental change, Peasants, Sugar, Indians, Ancient wine, Water, Poverty, Food crisis
- Hanging out with farmers. Sounds like fun.
- UNEP maps Africa, then and now.
- Small farms are beautiful?
- How sugar changed everything etc etc.
- “Last week, descendants of the early Pueblo nations returned to plant a summer crop of corn, beans and squash, donating some of their traditional seed.” How cool is that?
- Balisca wine at the root of it all.
- California’s farmers waste water — because they have to.
- University of Leeds to spend GBP2.8 million studying poverty, agriculture and nutrition.
- “We have already lost three-quarters of the genetic diversity of agricultural crops.” Right.
Nibbles: Medicinal rice, Dairy, Dates, Food, Cuba, Mango
- Red rice extract prevents heart problems.
- Got milk?
- Marrakesh date palms in trouble. But back in 2002 Gary Martin was doing something about it, I thought.
- “Diet for a small planet” revisited.
- Cuba’s urban agriculture revolution.
- “The Mango Mela, an agricultural fair dedicated to the fruit, … featured only 20 varieties, compared with more than 100 last year.”
Nibbles: Taste, Guano, Breeding squared, Satellites, Subsidies, Harakeke, Pomegranate
- Who put pepper in my shiraz? Human diversity meets grape diversity meets pepper diversity.
- High-priced fertilizers bring guano back. No shit. Via.
- Rebsie breeds a unique red-podded pea. Gregor repeats, “You go girl.”
- Another backyard breeder bares all. Mass crosses, mass selection.
- Eye in the sky informs on crop performance. No comment (yet) from Larry and Sergei.
- Understanding the US Farm Bill. Questions?
- Things to do with Phormium tenax.
- Popular as a pomegranate? Via.