- Sierra Leone gets back to (rural) work.
- Rachel Laudan not keen on UNESCO protecting culinary traditions.
- Value chains are hard.
- Dual-purpose sorghum in the CGIAR spotlight.
- Andy does cassava. Looks like he may need to buy a house in Bellagio.
- Latest Animal Genetic Resources is out. In other news, there’s an international journal called Animal Genetic Resources.
Nibbles: CBD COP, Biofortification, Foodie potatoes, Dates date, Reintroductions, Quercus, Nomenclature, Maize, P, Agroforestry, Weeds, VIR, Lactose intolerance, Yersinia
- Bioversity DG “jubilant” at Nagoya Protocol.
- A video plug for the biofortification conference.
- Native potatoes on foodie agenda.
- A date palm festival. In the US.
- The success of species introductions.
- Italian acorn cakes deconstructed. I’m told the people able to recognize these sweet acorns are few and old.
- Calling times on biological names. Whoa!
- Saving heirloom mielies.
- What the heck is happening with phosphorus anyway?
- Panamanian farmers don’t like to grow (some) native trees on their farms because of slow growth rates.
- Eating medieval weeds.
- Latest from Pavlovsk. I have no idea what’s going on anymore.
- Lactase persistence due to cold.
- Genetics says plague came from China.
Fruit tree genebank faces the chop
An important field genebank of rare fruit trees faces an uncertain future as a result of financial support. No, not that one. Bioversity International reports that the Pomona Botanical Conservatory in Apulia, Italy, has failed to obtain a much needed grant to support its activities.
And in other threatened genebank news, our friends in the north report a visit from Swedish National TV to the Nordic Genetic Resources Center to cover budget cuts there.
According to our friends, half the staff will lose their jobs at the start of 2011 if the crisis is not resolved, “and the Nordic countries may start to lose the genebank collection of genetic resources carefully preserved during more than three decades”.
How fine that all this should be happening as the world discusses the conservation of biodiversity at Nagoya.
Nibbles: Bean gap analysis, Protected areas 2.0, NZ livestock, French boar, Taro in Hawaii, UNEP, Moringa, False flax, Hordeum
- Let “The Bean Counters” show you where to collect wild Phaseolus.
- Protected areas get wikified.
- Expensive book published on the heritage breeds of New Zealand.
- Wild boar going crazy in France.
- Another Hawaiian taro festival. And why not.
- Ecosystems for climate change adaptation. No agroecosystems though.
- Moringa! Not just for people.
- Camelina! Not just for Europeans.
- What is it about barley wild relatives lately?
Nibbles: Amazon agriculture, Livestock conservation, Chestnut redux, COP 10, Stone Age flour
- More on that thing about how the Amazon was once pullulating with people. And why.
- Why conserve livestock genetic resources. And one possible way to do it.
- The American people are bringing back the American chestnut.
- COP-watchers, something to amuse yourselves with if things get dull.
- Even Neanderthals understood the benefits of a diverse diet. Though not, perhaps, of jewellery.