Nibbles – Page 458 – Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog

October 15, 2007October 15, 2007

Know your small grain aphids

Speaking of aphids … a rogues gallery. So much pest diversity!

October 14, 2007

Cattle genetic diversity

“Genetic endemism” is northern Eurasian cattle.

October 13, 2007

Cigarette?

The case against growing tobacco. So let’s ban it, right?

October 13, 2007

Undermining colonialism

Australian Aborigines “not nomadic.”

October 12, 2007

Magic mushrooms banned

Bad news for Dutch agrobiodiversity. Castaneda unavailable for comment.

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