Nibbles – Page 435 – Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog

January 19, 2008

The Vanishing of the Bees

Colony Collapse Disorder gets a documentary. Maybe.

January 19, 2008

Cattalo complicating plans to restore Great Plains

More on the bison‘s polluted genome.

January 19, 2008

Heal thyself

Medicinal plants in trouble.

January 17, 2008

More trouble in Naples

Brucillosis threatens mozzarella. Camorra unavailable for comment.

January 16, 2008

Feeding livestock

New Agriculturist focuses on livestock feed and fodder systems.

1. Haga Hideo’s 1950s photos of Fukushima farming rituals are now being used to revive them: ex situ conservation, but for culture.
2. Long before photography, or “pre‑breeding” was a buzzword, Belgian pomologist Jean‑Baptiste Van Mons was running massive pear selection trials and gifting us Beurré Bosc and Doyenné Boussock.
3. As Southern Africa’s miombo shrinks, scientists are cloning wild trees so the fruit — and food security — outlive the forest. Now for the pre-breeding.
4. Greenpeace Africa’s Seed Project makes the case for indigenous seeds as a route to farmer independence. And you can help.
5. And oh so coincidentally, a network of community seed banks in Kenya is rescuing indigenous seeds so the diversity is still around when opportunity (or crisis) knocks.
6. Also in Kenya, the national genebank’s collectors are racing to secure opportunity crops.
7. Nepal’s indigenous crops and landraces are at the same time more needed than ever, and under threat. So, much like in Kenya.
8. The Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT says women are at the center of sustainable food systems; the fine print adds: “as they have always been.”
Published on September 30, 2026