It’s only the 10th anniversary of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture? Feels like a lifetime…
Nibbles: China, Anti-malarials, Mongolia
- China’s capitalists gobble up agriculture. If you can’t join ’em, beat ’em.
- Making better seed of Artemisia available. And conserving its diversity?
- Mongolian pastoralists embrace collective action.
Managing the Commons
Ostrom pointed to an authoritative study of 100 protected forests in 14 countries, which shows that the cooperation of local people is more important to preserving these commons than whether a national government, local officials or someone else actually oversees the forests. If the people who live there feel they benefit long-term from how the forests are managed, she notes, they make sure the rules are followed. “When local groups have the right to harvest non-timber resources, they are more likely to monitor and sanction those who break the rules.”
Nibbles: Tarwi, Pests, Planthoppers, Subsidies, Cereal breeding, EU legislation,
- A nice long video on Lupinus mutabilis: TARWI – Semillas del Futuro Vol.1. It has always, in my experience, been “del futuro”.
- BBC asks CABI chief scientist to pick his top 10 plant pests. What, no taro leaf blight?
- Nor planthoppers of Iran?
- Divert just four years’ worth of EU agricultural subsidies to pay off pretty much all of Greece’s public debt, and we could stave off a second global financial crisis while helping some of the world’s poorest people all at the same time. Not gonna happen.
- Videos from 15th EWAC-Eucarpia Cereals Section Conference. Luigi not featured. Yet.
- EU may decide on new seed laws tomorrow. Or not. Patrick unpacks it a bit.
Nibbles: Libya, Retail links, Book
- Libya asks ICARDA for seeds. We ask “Libyan seeds?”
- Indian small farmers should link to retail chains.
- New Agriculturalist reviews a book on upscaling small-scale farmers.