Nibbles – Page 453 – Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog

October 25, 2007

Natural history collection seeks contributions

Boffins keen to get hands on pubic lice. Everybody unavailable for comment.

October 25, 2007October 25, 2007

New pecan variety released

New pecan on the block.

October 24, 2007October 24, 2007

Turks discuss organic farming

A report from the 1st Organic Farming Congress at BahÃ§eÅŸehir University in Turkey.

October 23, 2007

A cartoon about blogging

Mega meta: Luigi and Jeremy unavailable for comment.

October 23, 2007

Village peanut sheller

Wanna add value to peanuts? Here’s one way.

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