- Climate change affecting ecosystems. Well I never. Mashup with crop wild relative distributions needed!
- Hershey scientist studies ancient chocolate.
- Natural dyes in Indonesia. Temptation to pun successfully resisted for once.
- Agrobiodiversity in art: The Old Plum.
Nibbles: Roses, Stripe Rust, Cuba, Carnival, India, GCARD, Urban ag, Genetic diversity and herbivory, Biocultural diversity
- The wages of Kenyan rose growers increase 22% — to $59 a month. Sinful.
- Wheat stripe rust uses sex to break down barriers.
- Q&A with Cuban whiz Humberto Ríos.
- Latest Carnival of Evolution is up; we’re the only ag, alas.
- Proposed agricultural biodiversity heritage sites in India. (Is this new?)
- Investing in Underutilised Crops to Achieve Food Security. A report from the CGARD conference in March.
- The Hanging Gardens of Kenya.
- Living in genetic mixtures helps plants against herbivores. No, really.
- “Restoring human cultures to the web of life.”
Vegetable seeds safe after fire
Bad news from our friends at AVRDC. The much-needed and still incomplete extension to their genebank has been badly damaged by fire. Fortunately, there were no injuries, and the seeds in the old coldrooms (below) are safe. But it will now be several more months before the new genebank can finally be commissioned. Anyway, commiserations to AVRDC’s genetic resources unit. But I know they’ll bounce back stronger than ever.
Nibbles: Rice panicles, Cassava brown streak, NTFP
- Gene controlling rice architecture may hold promise for increased yield. Unless, of course, it doesn’t.
- Attempts to control a deadly cassava virus in central Africa. I hope someone is conserving those susceptible varieties. They may be useless now, but who knows what the future will bring? And more questions.
- And following the Kibale post, more on non-timber forest products and their trade.
8th International Wheat Conference and BGRI 2010 Technical Workshop
Wheat boffins are meeting in St Petersburg. CIMMYT is blogging about it. ICARDA is blogging about it. A whole bunch of people are twittering. So there’s no excuse for not knowing what’s going on.