Nibbles – Page 502 – Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog

May 28, 2007March 4, 2026

Indonesia disrupts WHO system

IPR concerns threaten ‘flu vaccine system as

May 27, 2007May 27, 2007

New natural anti-oxidant source

The seed extract of the South American SapindaceaeÂ berry guarana (Paullinia cupana) has been found to have high levels of anti-oxidant activity.

May 27, 2007March 3, 2026

Another deadly disease

Tomato leaf curl virus has appeared in California, threatening the entire US tomato crop.

May 27, 2007March 3, 2026

Farmers Celebrate Biodiversity Day

Farmers celebrate Biodiversity Day in Ireland …

May 27, 2007March 3, 2026

CABI comms ramps up

CABI has a new e-Zine. ¹ And in the first issue, how farmers in Sri Lanka are using the internets to grow better crops.

1. Swapping maize for indigenous crops won’t fix African food systems designed around markets and policies that still favour a narrow range of crops.
2. Cassava is both a food security fallback and a commercial crop in Uganda, but disease, climate change and declining diversity make its conservation an increasingly urgent form of insurance. But what about the markets and policies?
3. When livestock and crops fail, Ugandan pastoralists draw on wild plants for food, underlining how much food-system resilience still sits outside the formal agricultural system, with its markets and policies.
4. The Morton Arboretum is using living collections and genetic research to help the threatened butternut tree cope with changing conditions.
5. Webinar discusses global approaches to seed provenancing and transfer zones, useful for anyone who wants to move native plants without moving the wrong genes. Butternut very interested.
6. San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance’s Frozen Zoo preserves genetic material of plant and animal species that may disappear, from DNA to cells to organisms. Butternut volunteers.
7. New Indian facility combines ex situ fish conservation with community aquaculture. Good model for much of the above?
Published on October 6, 2026