Nibbles – Page 469 – Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog

September 10, 2007July 3, 2019

Traditional rice cultivation at risk

Saving the Ifugao rice terraces, and their agrobiodiversity.

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.

1. Haga Hideo’s 1950s photos of Fukushima farming rituals are now being used to revive them: ex situ conservation, but for culture.
2. Long before photography, or “pre‑breeding” was a buzzword, Belgian pomologist Jean‑Baptiste Van Mons was running massive pear selection trials and gifting us Beurré Bosc and Doyenné Boussock.
3. As Southern Africa’s miombo woodlands shrinks, scientists are cloning wild trees so the fruit — and food security — outlive the forest. Now for the pre-breeding.
4. Greenpeace Africa’s Seed Project makes the case for indigenous seeds as a route to farmer independence. And you can help.
5. And oh so coincidentally, a network of community seed banks in Kenya is rescuing indigenous seeds so the diversity is still around when opportunity (or crisis) knocks.
6. Also in Kenya, the national genebank’s collectors are racing to secure opportunity crops.
7. Nepal’s indigenous crops and landraces are at the same time more needed than ever, and under threat. So, much like in Kenya.
8. The Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT says women are at the center of sustainable food systems; the fine print adds: “as they have always been.”
Published on September 30, 2026