- Nice synthesis of dog (and chicken) domestication.
- Saving the Jala maize landrace in Mexico.
- Saving lots of rice landraces in India by eating them.
- Myanmar does not live by rice alone. And neither does India.
- Saving a whole bunch of stuff in Colombia.
- Saving a sorghum wild relative in Australia.
- How coconuts can help museums decolonize.
- Maybe agricultural development needs to decolonize too. Discuss.
- Africa’s Fertile Crescent is the Niger River Basin. Nice, but we saw that coming first.
- Citrus is big in Japan.
- Olive oil is big in Liguria.
- The visnaga cactus was big in the US Southwest once. As an ingredient in candy, of all things.
- Breeding filberts in the US.
- Tomato 2.0.
- And a bunch of other crops American farmers and breeders are having to adapt to climate change.
- And not just that, they have to deliver better nutrition too.
- Eat what you want, sure. But think what that means for climate change.
- Principles for GAIN engaging with the private sector (in all its diversity) on nutrition. Could be applied to engagement on climate change, I suppose, and crop diversity conservation for that matter. My question, though, is: runaway train, or Titanic?
Nibbles: Grape breeding, Vanilla breeding, DSI policy, ITPGRFA, Maori taro, Dhofar memories
- Marker-assisted breeding in grapes: like skimming through a book looking for key words.
- Vanilla genome: going from no-frills vehicle to luxury sportscar.
- CGN on what to do to ensure continued access to that book — or car.
- A topic which is all the rage right now in the ITPGRFA, on which this is a one-page primer.
- 14th century Māori grew taro as well as sweet potato.
- Great infographics on the fascinating region of Dhofar in southern Oman, in which I collected germplasm many years ago. Great opportunity to reminisce.
Nibbles: Cherokee seeds, Genebanks shoutout, Seek, Breed watchlist, Pre-breeding vid, Brandon Schlautman
- Svalbard Vault inspires Cherokee Nation seed saving.
- Genebanks inspire CIMMYT Director General.
- New plant identification app inspires me to get out more.
- Rare Breed Survival Trust inspired by the resilience of some native livestock.
- See if this video doesn’t inspire you to do some pre-breeding.
- Inspiring interview with a breeder of perennial legumes.
Nibbles: Neolithic, Agroforestry, California dreaming, Not that pawpaw, Droning about salinity, Rocket science
- Beer before bread? Sure, why not.
- Melia is a big hit in Kenya. Must tell the mother-in-law.
- California goes back to the acorn.
- When it’s finished with that, it could try the stuff in this old orchard.
- Unfortunately no pawpaw there. Yet.
- No need to stress out about salinity, California.
- Rucola doesn’t need California.
Nibbles: Grapefruit breeding, Parent navel orange, Meyer lemon, USDA fruit collection, USDA art, Crop diversification, Kiwi genebank, Apple genealogy, Saffron
- Grapefruit has hit bottom, grapefruit breeder says.
- Here’s a solution: a fence.
- What would Frank Meyer say about any of the above?
- Or Todd Kennedy for that matter.
- Botanical art at USDA. Beautiful. And probably a grapefruit in there.
- Gear up for the European Conference on Crop Diversification, 18-21 September 2019 in Budapest, Hungary. Will grapefruit be on the menu?
- Never mind about grapefruit, get a load of this kiwi fruit genebank.
- Nice diagram of apple genealogy. Grapefruit next?
- I bet saffron goes well with grapefruit. Yeah, forced, I know. Sue me.