Organic agriculture

November 5, 2013November 7, 2013

Nibbles: Soil testing kit, Sustainable farming, Coffee and climate change, BGI genebank, Bamboo genebank, Genebank management, India’s malnutrition, Phenotyping conference, CIP genebank video, CG impact, Feed the World

Luigi went on a three-week trip, and all he came back with was this:

A new soil testing kit? Really?
Ok, how about a SciDev Spotlight featurette on sustainable farming? No? Well, can I tempt you with the British Ecological Society on agroecology then?
Oh, I bet this thing on coffee and climate change will hit home.
I’m pretty sure news of yet another Chinese genebank (of sorts) won’t.
Pssst. Got room for a new bamboo genebank too?
They’ll need a genebank management system, won’t they? GRIN and bear it.
News too of hunger and malnutrition in India, by Indians, for … er …
Phenotyping conference, anyone? Anyone at all? Some EU breeders will no doubt be there. And some of them at least will find a new map of water risk useful in their work.
And to end with, Al Jazeera on the CIP potato genebank. You heard me.
As you were, there’s the CGIAR Knowledge Day too, all about delivery and impact. I wonder if the genebanks will feature…
Not so fast, there’s also a live webcast of the conference Feeding the World without Consuming the Planet that awaits you.

September 10, 2013September 10, 2013

Nibbles: Coca, Rice breeding, Artisanal cheese, Win win, Microbes, Potato dyes, Beans, Agroforestry & conservation, Sweet potato marketing

Bolivia ramps up coca production. Sniff.
Tamil Nadu ramps up rice breeding.
Bulgaria ramps up artisanal cheese production.
Collaboration between organic and biotech ramped up. In other news, pigs fly.
Ramp up use of microbes, microbiologist says. Nobody surprised.
Americans ramp up production of purple potatoes.
Everyone ramps up bean production. To save the planet, no less.
Can agroforestry be used to ramp up tree conservation? Well, maybe?
Need to ramp up sweet potato marketing.

September 2, 2013September 2, 2013

Brainfood: Pests & CC, Germplasm pix, Latvian legume rescue, Estonian potatoes, NZ genebanks, Yam polyploids, Tree evaluation, Ethiopian veggie, European seed law, Zulu sheep, Celosia management

Crop pests and pathogens move polewards in a warming world. At 3 km/year.
Systems for making NIAS Core Collections, single-seed-derived germplasm, and plant photo images available to the research community. The next level in genetic resources documentation?
Recovering Genetic Resources of Some Legume Species of Latvian Origin by Plant Tissue Culture. You have to work at it.
Overview of in vitro Preservation of Potato and Use of the Gene Bank Material in Estonia. They like coloured potatoes in Estonia.
The key roles of seed banks in plant biodiversity management in New Zealand. Are many and varied.
Microsatellite and flow cytometry analysis to help understand the origin of Dioscorea alata polyploids. Unreduced gametes did it.
Genetic variation in progenies of Jacaranda cuspidifolia Mart using the fan systematic design. Yon can measure genetic variation and evaluate performance under different spacings at the same time, which is important in a tree.
Diversity analysis in Plectranthus edulis (Vatke) Agnew collection in Ethiopia. As ever, a considerable amount of variability was found. Oh hum.
The European seed legislation on conservation varieties: focus, implementation, present and future impact on landrace on farm conservation. There should be more landraces in the Common Catalogue.
Characterization of Zulu sheep production system: Implications for conservation and improvement. If they’re so drought tolerant, why is drought threatening them? Well, there’s drought, and then there’s drought.
Effects of paraquat on genetic diversity and protein profiles of six varieties of Celosia in South-Western Nigeria. That would be a tasty and diverse local leafy green. Well, before the paraquat anyway.

August 27, 2013August 27, 2013

Nibbles: Citrus cryo, Vegetables everywhere, Threatened ecosystems, Brazilian ag, Native restoration, Regeneration video, Nomenclature, Grass pea, Tef, Millet, Hops, Kenyan rabbits, Bloody quinoa

Saving citrus by freezing it.
WorldVeg pushing tomatoes in the Solomons. New York next? Ah, but what they really need is Mind Gardens. Oh, and a how-to-save-seeds book. Or maybe just Jeremy’s latest podcast on breeding your own veggies.
Ecosystems get their red list too.
“Although there are some who consider Brazilian agriculture to be aggressive and destructive, we want to share another vision for the rest of the tropical belt…”
But if it’s too late, of course you can try to restore them.
Video of wheat regeneration in Canada. Like watching grass grow. No, wait.
The naming of plants, music to our ears.
Kew does Lathyrus sativus, grass pea to the rest of you, music to Luigi’s ears.
IFPRI is going great nutritional guns, with the low-down on tef and biofortified millet.
So, Big Picture Agriculture’s hop garden is flourishing.
Likewise rabbits in Kenya.
Enough already with the quinoa.

August 22, 2013

Nibbles: Superweeds, Old spices, Companies and nutrition, Bananas and cacao, Coffee pix, Potato restaurant, Millet processing, Aussie social herbarium, Rockefeller Story, Apple nutrition, And a bottle of rum…

Those who like that sort of thing will no doubt enjoy this discussion at Biofortified of that recent paper about a herbicide resistance transgene possibly giving a fitness advantage to weeds. And more.
As for me, I’d rather read about Neolithic spices. Or beer.
Some food companies more committed to nutrition than others shock. But good to have the data.
Bananas to the rescue in cacao plantations. If I had the willpower I’d try to mash it up with the previous thing. Anyway, coffee next?
Eating more spuds in the Village. Eating more millets in the village.
Australian National Herbarium gets a Facebook page.
The history of the Rockefeller Foundation’s agriculture work. That would include the Green Revolution.
Really confused Telegraph piece on heirloom and/or organic apples.
I guess I missed National Rum Day. But I’m nevertheless glad that it exists.