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As Jerry Seinfeld famously once said, I’m getting a little backed up here. Travel and work and, well, life, have conspired to keep me away from Nibbling for the past week and more, so apologies if what follows proves a little difficult to digest.
- The closest relative of the papaya looks nothing like a papaya. But will it be monitored, along with the rest of agrobiodiversity?
- We might have to look further afield than near relatives to save the orange. But closer to save corn.
- Cashews are bad? Say it ain’t so. And as for pecans…
- CGIAR comms guys (and it is all guys) reminisce about the good old days of agricultural research. And here’s an example, using wheat, of what they’re up to now. Nice shoutout for breeding and genebanks. Though of course it’s not just about the breeding.
- Crop improvement is one of six ways of feeding the world. Just. CGIAR comms guys probably on it. Barbara Schaal certainly is.
- IRRI maps rice areas affected by the recent typhoon. I did ask, and farmers there apparently mostly grow modern varieties. FAO provides more context.
- More insectivorous hijinks.
- Great new blog on chai wallahs.
- Big, open ag data will save us all. That sound you hear is the zeitgeist catching up. And the CGIAR is on it.
- You say terroir, I say microbes.
- Report on a descent into Genebank Database Hell, European Chapter. Ah, but it’s open.
- India reaches out to Africa, millets in hand.
Nibbles: Citrullus, Evaluation
- Medieval watermelons. AoB blog has the summary.
- Hey, CG! Evaluate THIS.
Brainfood: Cassava erosion, Chinese cereals, New banana, Olive collection, Chicken diversity, Selling nature, Japan sustainable ag & green tourism, Integrated drylands
- Maintenance of Manioc Diversity by Traditional Farmers in the State of Mato Grosso, Brazil: A 20-Year Comparison. Overall diversity unchanged, but number of varieties per farmer down. Rare varieties now common, and vice versa.
- On-farm conservation of 12 cereal crops among 15 ethnic groups in Yunnan (PR China). Higher income means fewer crops and fewer varieties. Remoteness and farm fragmentation work the other way.
- Musa arunachalensis: a new species of Musa section Rhodochlamys (Musaceae) from Arunachal Pradesh, northeastern India. It never ends.
- Identification of the Worldwide Olive Germplasm Bank of Córdoba (Spain) using SSR and morphological markers. 824 trees, 499 accessions, 332 cultivars, 200 authenticated.
- Genetic characterization and conservation priorities of chicken lines. Lose 4 of 7 chicken lines derived from the Plymouth Rock breed and you only lose a maximum of 4% of total genetic diversity.
- Conservation through Commodification? Well, maybe.
- Review of Sustainable Agriculture: Promotion, Its Challenges and Opportunities in Japan. Gotta involve the farmers. Even in Japan.
- Green Tourism in Japan: Opportunities for a GIAHS Pilot Site. Should probably be mashed up with the above. By someone other than me, though.
- An integrated agro-ecosystem and livelihood systems approach for the poor and vulnerable in dry areas. Must integrate multi-disciplinarily along the entire impact pathway. Funny though how genetic resources, which arguably lie at the source of many of these, get so little mention.
National Geographic launches “Year of Food”
Pretty interesting 20-minute talk from Dennis Dimick, National Geographic Magazine’s Executive Editor for the Environment. NatGeo will be launching a Year of Food in May 2014, and I’m guessing that some family farms will be involved. While I’m not a betting man, I’ll offer two wagers:
- NatGeo will reach, and influence, more people than FAO.
- NatGeo will not explain the difference between oca and potato.
In case you’re wondering, I do believe those are oca at 16’43” in.
Near the end, Dimick says “maybe we just need to grow more farmers”. Now there’s a thought …
Brainfood: Asian American horticulture, Salt resistant Vigna, Rubber dandelion, Biofortifying wheat, US apple cores, Central European barley, Swedish peas, Alpine dairy, CAP crap, MVP
- Asian Germplasm in American Horticulture: New Thoughts on an Old Theme. The tap has sort of run dry.
- Identification of salt resistant wild relatives of mungbean (Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek). From 22 accessions of 7 species to 2 accessions of 2 species. Now for the hard part.
- Available germplasm of the potential rubber crop belongs to a poor rubber producer, (Compositae–Crepidinae).
Cultivation of the Russian dandelion (Taraxacum koksaghyz) was no such thing, but taxonomy has the answer. - Biofortification strategies to increase grain zinc and iron concentrations in wheat. Not just about the breeding.
- Diversity Captured in the USDA-ARS National Plant Germplasm System Apple Core Collection. Apple core? Seriously.
- Genes for resistance to powdery mildew in European winter barley cultivars registered in the Czech Republic and Slovakia to 2010. There’s quite a few of them, some of them previously unknown. Oh those jammy breeders. And beer drinkers.
- Genetic diversity in local cultivars of garden pea (Pisum sativum L.) conserved ‘on farm’ and in historical collections. Little connection between historical and current material, and genetic erosion both in genebanks and on farms.
- Dairy systems in mountainous areas: Farm animal biodiversity, milk production and destination, and land use. The traditional, low-input systems are best for sustainability and biodiversity, but have low productivity, but geographic appellations for cheeses can make up for that.
- The contribution of the EU Common Agricultural Policy to protecting biodiversity and global climate in Europe. Is, ahem, limited.
- Can Big Push Interventions Take Small-Scale Farmers out of Poverty? Insights from the Sauri Millennium Village in Kenya. Greater productivity (due to seeds and fertilizers) compared to nearby villages does not translate into higher incomes. Well that’s awkward.