Policy

May 23, 2022

A new organic, heterogeneous era dawns in Europe

What I forgot to do when I mentioned the Seeds4All Newsletter recently is link to their new “brochure outlining the regulatory steps to be taken in order to market OHM-labelled varieties.”

OHM?

2022 is a special year, as it will start with the entry into force of the new European Regulation on organic production, introducing the possibility of marketing seeds of ‘organic heterogeneous material’ (OHM) without any obligation to be registered in official catalogues.

We believe that this new legislation is a real advance for cultivated biodiversity and could reinforce the sustainability of organic agriculture by allowing the marketing of a greater quantity and diversity of truly organic seeds.

For these regulatory advances to be effective, it is necessary though that field operators seize them and commit to the marketing, reproduction and use of seed of organic heterogeneous material.

Bet there was a bit of resistance to that. You can download the brochure from the Seed4All website. Have fun.

May 23, 2022June 7, 2022

Brainfood: Trade double, Organic farming, Food vs non-food, Wild plants, Wheat yields, CWR in S Africa, Gene editing, European seed law, Farm diversity

Agricultural trade and its impacts on cropland use and the global loss of species habitat. Rich countries have a large biodiversity footprint outside their borders because they import a lot of agricultural products from areas where biodiversity is disappearing fast.
International food trade benefits biodiversity and food security in low-income countries. Ah, but low-income, high biodiversity countries import a lot too. I really don’t know what to think about trade now. Nicely parsed by Emma Bryce.
Biodiversity and yield trade-offs for organic farming. Biodiversity gain and yield loss balance each other out. Oh, come on scientists, would it kill you to give a definite answer?
Crop harvests for direct food use insufficient to meet the UN’s food security goal. We should definitely use more cropland for actual human food. But that would probably not be good for exports, no? Uff.
The hidden safety net: wild and semi-wild plant consumption and dietary diversity among women farmers in Southwestern Burkina Faso. Yeah, but who needs crops and imports anyway.
Six decades of warming and drought in the world’s top wheat-producing countries offset the benefits of rising CO2 to yield. In any case, crops are in trouble.
Planning complementary conservation of crop wild relative diversity in southern Africa. But CWR will save crops if only we can conserve them.
Genome Editing for Sustainable Agriculture in Africa. Especially if we use the latest toys.
Impact of the European Union’s Seed Legislation and Intellectual Property Rights on Crop Diversity. And have all the right policies in place.
Farm-level production diversity and child and adolescent nutrition in rural sub-Saharan Africa: a multicountry, longitudinal study. But actually, it’s livestock we really need.

May 16, 2022May 13, 2022

Brainfood: Landrace gaps, Musa gaps, Teff use, Wheat evolution, NUS services, Phenotyping, Harappan residues, Food trade

State of ex situ conservation of landrace groups of 25 major crops. Two thirds done, on average, at least by this measure, with these data.
Phylogeography and conservation gaps of Musa balbisiana Colla genetic diversity revealed by microsatellite markers. But of course there are always other ways of doing it.
Value of teff (Eragrostis tef) genetic resources to support breeding for conventional and smallholder farming: a review. An example of why doing the above for all crops is important.
Evolution and origin of bread wheat. Another example. But the B genome remains elusive.
Diversity and Diversification: Ecosystem Services Derived From Underutilized Crops and Their Co-benefits for Sustainable Agricultural Landscapes and Resilient Food Systems in Africa. So many services. And yet…
Crop phenotyping in a context of global change: What to measure and how to do it. So many toys.
Integrating Lipid and Starch Grain Analyses From Pottery Vessels to Explore Prehistoric Foodways in Northern Gujarat, India. And more toys. They made biodiverse stews in the Indus Valley Civilization.
International food trade benefits biodiversity and food security in low-income countries. Low-income, very biodiverse countries are importing more food, which is somehow good for biodiversity. No word on its effect on agrobiodiversity.

May 14, 2022May 13, 2022

Nibbles: Seeds in Lebanon, Seeds in space, Seeds in Ghana, Seeds in Kenya, Cassava, Jamaican vodka

The latest news of the ICARDA genebank in Lebanon.
Meanwhile, China has put seeds in space.
Back on Earth, though, Ghana still needs investment in its seed systems…
…Kenya looks to its sorghum and finger millet…
…and Nigeria to its cassava.
Jamaica, on the other hand, is having a breadfruit vodka.

May 11, 2022May 12, 2022

How to prevent the next crop pandemic

He suggests creating a global “fire brigade” of 3,000 experts scattered around the world, recruited for skills ranging from epidemiology and genetics, through drug and vaccine development and computer modelling, to diplomacy. This outfit, which would probably work under the auspices of the World Health Organisation, would remain on permanent standby, ready to respond to any detected outbreak.

That’s Bill Gates in his new book on How to Prevent the Next Pandemic, according to a review in The Economist. Which should remind us all that something similar has been mooted for crop diseases. What with the International Day of Plant Health coming up, it would be good to know where we are with that idea now.

LATER: I had something to say about the International Day of Plant Health over at work.