- Angola gets US$49.5 million to improve agricultural productivity, no mention of biodiversity.
- Yellow sugarsnap peas: an update.
- Guinness wells in Ghana, sorghum farmers not grateful enough.
- Trinidad goes back to its roots.
- More trouble for pollination.
- The Economist on adding value to coffee and cacao.
- “The earth without ____ would soon become cold, hard-bound and void of fermentation, and consequently sterile.” Fill in the blank.
Fun with Web 2.0 and genetic resources
This is awesome. I hate to get all airhead on you, faithful reader, and I know I’m easily impressed, but a little video “tutorial” from the folks at Gramene just blew me away. In less than four minutes — as long as you have a reasonably good internet connection and hardware — they give you a glimpse of what you can get through Gramene. Not merely genetic maps, snips, images, full DNA sequences, access to germplasm, phylogenies and taxonomies and what have you but also — get this — recipes! And nutrition!
The tutorial is well worth watching, to see how advanced these products can be. The site where the tutorial is hosted looks like it might be a very useful resource. And if I didn’t have real work to do, I know I could usefully explore Gramene itself for a day or two.
Like I said, awesome.
Pacific Island Food Leaflets
Lois Englberger has alerted me to the fact that my former colleagues at the SPC nutrition section in Noumea have put six new Pacific Island Food Leaflets online. Well worth a look. CTA helped with the funding.
Terrible news from the northern Pacific
My friend and colleague Lois Englberger has just written to say that the building which housed the Secretariat of the Pacific Community office in Pohnpei and the headquarters of the Island Food Community of Pohnpei burned down during the early morning of 4 April. Losses were great, though thankfully nobody was hurt. Both SPC and IFCP are active promoters of traditional foods, and have done great work documenting and conserving traditional varieties of Pacific crops, and not just in Pohnpei. What’s happened is a terrible blow, but I’m sure both organizations will make a full and rapid recovery and continue their vital work. My thoughts and best wishes are with Lois, Konrad, Adelino and all my other friends affected by this in Pohnpei and around the Pacific.
Nibbles: Donkeys, UG99, fruit GI, negected species, Spore
- Cypriot wild donkeys in trouble.
- Gates Foundation tackles wheat rust UG99. Phew!
- Malaysians measure fruit glycemic indices, no mention of varieties.
- English exposed to neglected species.
- Sorry, missed the redesigned Spore.