Nibbles – Page 467 – Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog

September 10, 2007

Longest maize ears in the world

They’re as long as your arm, and celebrated each year in Jala, Mexico.

September 10, 2007September 10, 2007

Forest cover increases in El Salvador

Trees grow on money.

September 6, 2007

Scottish oaks

Protecting an ancient oak forest in Scotland.

September 6, 2007

Gargantuan gardening

The wacky world of competitive vegetable growing. With slideshow goodness.

September 4, 2007September 4, 2007

Italian agritourism

Is agriturismo keeping Italian agriculture alive?

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