Nibbles – Page 436 – Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog

December 13, 2007

Ancient brewing

Puebloans and ancient Irish brewed beer. Pass the bottle.

December 12, 2007

Boron barley breakthrough

~~Boring~~ boron resistance gene found in barley.

December 11, 2007

Efforts to conserve wild juniper

Yorkshire (UK) conserving wild Juniperus communis; gin drinkers too elated to comment.

December 11, 2007

Mopane worms

Mopane worms:Â a traditional source of protein in Botswana. I’ve tried them. They’re yummie.

December 11, 2007

Chestnuts coming back

Chestnuts roasting on open fires again. Bing Crosby unavailable for comment.

1. A North Macedonian professor’s 15-year rescue mission for landraces and crops surviving only in remote villages. Why bother? Stay tuned…
2. Ancient grapevines in Tigray represent a unique genetic lineage with potential value for breeding varieties adapted to dryland conditions.
3. Hawai’i Public Radio checks in on Maui’s coconut genebank. Useful to breed varieties adapted to really wet conditions, presumably.
4. The Cayman Islands are also hoarding coconuts, along with lots of tasty fruits.
5. A USD 400,000 boost from Taiwan for the Eswatini national genebank. Indigenous vegetables get much-needed love.
6. A regional survey of 25 orphan crops across 13 Latin American countries finds quinoa and amaranth well-catalogued, but characterization budgets are the real bottleneck. Collecting and conserving in genebanks is great, but not enough.
7. South Korea puts 330,000 seed accessions under “double lock”, hedging against both climate change and war. Conserving in one place is not enough.
8. FAO warns that nearly a third of the world can’t afford the USD 4.28 a day that a healthy diet costs — nearly three billion people, and rising. That’s why we need al the above, I guess.
Published on July 28, 2026