Nibbles – Page 459 – Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog

October 2, 2007

Alfred H. Peet dies

The “grandfather of specialty coffee” goes to the big caffÃ¨ in the sky.

October 2, 2007

Italian fruit on show

Blast, I missed the Mostra Pomologica!

October 2, 2007April 14, 2011

Opening the cerrado

Embrapa gets NYTimes write-up. Its genebanks unavailable for comment.

October 1, 2007

Poppy dearest

More on the Afghan opium poppyÂ legalization debate.

October 1, 2007October 1, 2007

Newsletter on organic seeds and plant breeding

Latest issue of the ECO-PB newsletter is available.

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