- Der Spiegel does its usual impressive number, this time on the Völkerwanderung. Via.
- Diversity and stability in grasslands. Yes, there’s a connection.
- Sheep breeds in India deconstructed.
- The future of the Guinea savannah. Probably not that great.
- IRRI teaches Singaporean cityslickers to grow rice.
- Silk beginning to fade where it was born.
- The diverse benefits of an agrobiodiverse diet. Should someone tell rich Indians?
- Tales of two giant inflorescences. What are the odds?
Nibbles: Pigeonpea, Livestock breeding, Ecotourism, Data
- Pigeonpea gets the genomics treatment.
- Animal genetic resources for the poor: “…one of the highest priority interventions for the smallholder systems is the development of innovative approaches for the strategic use of appropriate genotypes from the available range of global breed resources.”
- How good is ecotourism?
- Gapminder does per capita food supply.
A breakthrough in West Africa?
We nibbled this piece in The Guardian a couple days back, but it really deserves more:
Health, nutrition and agriculture experts from the 15 Ecowas countries said nutrition usually gains attention only in the context of crisis and emergency response, but it should be integral to agricultural and development programmes if countries are to pre-empt child malnutrition.
That seems to be quite a breakthrough. When I posted the link on the Biodiversity_for_Nutrition Yahoo Group, saying that putting “nutrition at the heart of agriculture” was quite a thought, Danny at Bioversity was quick off the mark:
A thought indeed. Raises some very good points – integration, policy and strategy fragmentation, need to mainstream nutrition into agriculture… All good stuff and hey, we even have a project in the pipeline that offers a great opportunity to address these issues. Unfortunately, the environment/biodiversity sectors are not highlighted as one of the sectors which should also be involved. They should be. Minor gripe. I would suggest that the focal points for the project in question circulate this short and to the point article to all their partners and beyond. Recommendation: Circulate widely!
Unfortunately, it is difficult to find details of the concrete actions that will be undertaken on the ECOWAS website. And one is also left wondering whether the link with biodiversity will be made. There is a parallel ECOWAS effort on biodiversity in which Bioversity is involved, so perhaps it will.
Nibbles: Nepal genebank, Banana mapping, PNG diet, Climate change
- More on the inauguration of the new Nepal genebank.
- Someone else thinks crop production maps might be useful in prioritizing germplasm collecting. No, wait…
- Diverse diets are good for you. Well I never. No, it’s always good to have the data.
- Andy Jarvis feeds reptiles climate change facts shock.
Nibbles: Musa wild relative, Soil biodiversity, Wild sorghum hybrids, Millet diversity, Bees, Garlic core collection, Heirloom seed saving, Nutrition, Fungal conservation, Sacred places
- New(ish) banana wild relative found in Mekong. Photo by Markku Hakkinen.
- Conserving soil biodiversity.
- Ecological fitness of wild-cultivated sorghum hybrids equal to wild parent.
- Pattern of genetic diversity in pearl millet determined by artificial, not natural, selection.
- The latest on the troubles of bees.
- Garlic gets cored. Totally SFW.
- Seed saving in the Hudson Valley.
- West African leaders say agriculture should be about nutrition. As opposed to?
- International Society for Fungal Conservation established. And that’s about it for now, but there are some ideas about what it will do.