- EU parliament, and others, urged “to improve conditions for pollinators in Europe”.
- Weeds. A book from Richard Mabey, now published and reviewed in the US.
- Ismail Serageldin will present the 2nd annual Malthus Lecture on 14 July at IFPRI. I’ll be staying late to follow the webcast.
- The Romanian genebank at Suceava seems to have a kind of progress report.
- They’re making a film about the organic farmers of Fukushima.
- Mango diversity picture goodness.
- Turns out making ginger beer doesn’t involve ginger. What it does involve is a weird agrobiodiversity symbiosis, but you had me at beer.
- Ancient Chacoans bred macaws. And why not.
- Biodiversity offsets are a huge market. What I want to know is if any of than money could go to genebanks.
- Ethiopian donkey power.
Crisis? What pollinator crisis?
The European Crop Protection Association is organizing a conference on Pollinators and Agriculture in Europe in Brussels in a few day’s time. It come hot on the heels of a report which you can download as a pdf or read as a beautifully produced online book. Here’s the money quote:
Bee good
Wait, it’s National Pollinator Week? Not in Sweden, alas.
Nibbles: Whiskey fungus, Ecological imperialism, Value chains, Mexican blog, Mexican maize and gender
- Newly-named urban extremophile fungus survives on angels’ share.
- 1493. An oldie but goodie. And the book version is on its way.
- AVRDC lists the 6 principles of food value chain research.
- El cuexcomate, un nuevo blog en español, acerca de “agricultura, plantas útiles, etnobotánica, comida … desde México.” Bienvenido!
- Women more interested than men in better-tasting maize. Maybe El cuexcomate will comment.
Nibbles: Cassava, Biopiracy, Neolithic, Potato history, Pollinator conservation
- The pros and cons of biofortified cassava rehearsed for the nth time.
- Scientists accused of biopiracy for the nth time.
- nth genetic study of ancient farmers. Men moved, in a nutshell, women not so much.
- Traditional healers: nth example of a group hard hit by climate change.
- In all above cases, n is a large positive integer.
- Potatoes responsible for about 25% of Old World population increase between 1700 and 1900. Nice maths.
- Learn how to conserve pollinators. If you’re in Rhode Island. But there is an online Pollinator Conservation Resource Center with lots of resources.