- Puerto Rico is the location for R&D of “up to 85 percent of the commercial corn, soybean and other hybrid seeds grown in the US”. Nope, I did not know that either.
- “According to Bioversity International, an international research and policy organization, just three crops — rice, wheat and maize — provide more than half of plant-derived calories consumed worldwide,” says online magazine. Excellent, we now have a reliable source.
- Marc Bellemare spills the beans on fad foods quinoa and avocado
Nibbles: Joanne Labate, Gebisa Ejeta, David Spooner, Strawberry 101, Mad honey, First figs, Agrobiodiversity maps, School project, Takesgiving, Private investment
- USDA vegetable crop curator tells it like it is.
- $5 million to find more Striga resistance genes in sorghum.
- Wild potato herbarium specimens find good home.
- How two New World strawberries got together in the Old World and then spread all over the world.
- Hallucinogenic honey: what could possibly go wrong?
- First farmers gave a fig.
- The other of all agrobiodiversity map mashups.
- Cool school project on crop diversity in Europe.
- In other news, “Columbusing” is a thing.
- Private sector investment in conservation: Turning “small and new” into “big and familiar.”
Nibbles: CWR, Vavilov, Russian wheat, Spinifex, Copal, Pacific veggies, ITPGRFA, GHUs, Brewing, Sustainable meat, Livestock domestication
- FoodTank does crop wild relatives.
- “The inveterate collector who understand the poetics of diversity had left behind a new plant unknown to science.”
- That “inveterate collector” would probably approve of this.
- A VERY tasty grass.
- Chew on that spinifex while burning this stuff for the full botanical multi-sensory experience..
- Pacific people told to cultivate their gardens for health and nutrition. And climate change adaptation.
- Progress on Farmers’ Rights. Incremental, but still.
- The unsung heroes of germplasm distribution get together.
- Reviving the fortunes of NY hops through fancy breeding.
- Too much plant protein is going to animals, so let’s give them insects instead.
- Because animals are bad for equality anyway.
Nibbles: Maize breeding, Baking history, USDA collections, UNEP initiative, Saline rice, Coffee rust, Protein crisis
- Breeding maize for high yields limits its plasticity.
- “The rich ate fine, floured wheat bread. But if you were poor you cut your teeth on rye and black bread.”
- USA, MLS and ITPGRFA.
- Rethinking conservation. Again.
- Content-free article on growing rice in slightly salty water.
- BBC catches up with coffee rust.
- Making animal feed sustainable. Easier said than done.
Nibbles: Banana, Chocolate, Agricultural biodiversity, Conservation
- A new-to-science sweet-and-sour banana. The crop wild relative wallahs better get on it.
- Tasty report on chocolate diversity.
- It says here that “Agricultural diversity the key to food security”. Why weren’t we told before?
- Big push for “radical new thinking on biodiversity conservation”. No sign of agriculture.