Nibbles – Page 418 – Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog

May 13, 2008May 13, 2008

Nibbles: Drugs, Cotton, Localsource, Bees, Sunflowers

Insights into Dutch cannabis breeding. Dude unavailable for comment.
Cotton diversity link-fest.
Head of World Food Programme on buying locally.
US bee health: not good. Via.
Australian sunflowers to improve US varieties; Luigi more confused than ever.

May 12, 2008May 12, 2008

Nibbles: NUS, Value-added, Values, Genebank, IPR

New Agriculturist focuses on neglected species.
Chocolate, wine… Fellow could have himself a pretty good weekend in Vegas with that lot.
Irish evaluate biodiversity, apparently ignore agriculture.
Sasa schemes to save Scottish landraces.
The Indian Seed and Patent Acts dissected.

May 9, 2008May 11, 2008

Nibbles: reindeer

Reindeer vary in domesticability, have been independently domesticated a couple of times. Santa Claus unavailable for comment.

May 8, 2008May 9, 2008

Nibbles: Ancient grains, ex situ, onions, organic, marine resources

Lots of new products feature ancient grains; King Tut unavailable for comment.
How genebanks work. Both Jeremy and Luigi available for comment and editing services.
Crackdown on onion smuggling.
Alleged myths about organic farming.
First Americans ate seaweed.

May 6, 2008May 6, 2008

Nibbles: Insects, EMBRAPA, Prices, Cuba, Supermarkets

Climate change threatens tropical insects and their pollination services.
Brazil rises in world genebank rankings.
Food price crisis advice summarized.
Cuba “sustainable” agriculture at crossroads.
Supermarkets bad for small farmers?

1. Ancient farmers didn’t have to wait for the genetic diversity that made domestication possible. They selected from variation already present in wild plants, including the ancestors of rice and maize. Domestication was as much about spotting (or happening upon) useful differences as creating new ones.
2. English colonists in America called Indigenous dogs “wolves,” revealing as much about colonial perceptions as about the animals themselves. This history of Indigenous dogs shows how unfamiliar animals were classified through peculiarly European ideas about wildness.
3. Austria is bringing forgotten apple varieties back to life. Saving old varieties in genebanks is one thing: getting people to grow, sell and eat them is another, but it can be done. Or at least tried.
4. Jordan’s olive-oil heritage centres on traditional varieties such as Nabali and ancient Rumi trees, but most production is consumed locally, leaving exports limited and making provenance, cultivar and harvest date important indicators for buyers. Compare and contrast with Austrian apples.
5. Small island developing states have distinctive food cultures and ingredients, but face particular challenges in building sustainable and resilient food systems. FAO’s A Taste of SIDS explores the connections between island food, biodiversity and culinary heritage. Nice to see diversity within crops considered, though a few local variety names would have been nice.
Published on October 21, 2026