Threats

June 11, 2010June 11, 2010

Two fried oyster po-boys to go!

Our attempt to gauge the effect of the ongoing disaster in the Gulf of Mexico on agrobiodiversity was pretty pathetic, really. Not so, predictably, Gary Nabhan’s. In an article in Grist, he announces that “the Renewing America’s Food Traditions (RAFT) alliance will release a comprehensive checklist of over 240 place-based foods of the Gulf Coast that are now at risk — 138 of them directly affected by the oil spill.” ¹ As a companion piece in Grist points out, accompanied by luscious photos, the best way to help these threatened foodways is to keep eating Gulf seafood:

…perceptions to the contrary, not all Gulf fisheries are closed. Plenty of shrimp, shellfish, and other seafood that have been greenlighted by the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program are still making it to market. The problem is that consumers are afraid to buy them. Well, fear not. Safeguards are in place — including federal oil-sniffers!

June 10, 2010June 11, 2010

Nibbles: Hemp, Wheat, Wheat, Conservation, Liberia, Carnival, Climate change, Satoyama, Leafy greens

The National Cannabis Collection in Hungary. Undated. Popped up. What can I tell you?
CIMMYT’s wheat atlas. Still in beta. What can I tell you?
And here’s a primer on spring vs winter wheat.
Director of European Crop Protection Association equates biodiversity with wildlife. Well, he would, wouldn’t he?
Liberian President Sirleaf: “Agricultural growth is more effective in reducing poverty than any effort in any other sector.” h/t NtP.
New edition of Scientia pro Publica blog carnival.
Our friend Ehsan’s Seeds for Needs project launches in Papua New Guinea, beating climate change to the punch.
The Satoyama Initiative has a website. And RSS feed.
“…traditional food crops … are an important source of community resilience in Zimbabwe—including resilience to climate change and economic turbulence.”

June 8, 2010June 8, 2010

Nibbles: Agricultural landscapes, Seed banks, Maize genetics, Food diversity, Ancient food, Micronutrients status report, Seed systems, Punjab Agricultural University, Arable land, Dutch elm disease

“Priortizing restoration across agricultural landscapes.” Nothing to do with agriculture, though.
“Gene banks to rescue local crops.” Nothing to do with genebanks, though.
“‘Psychedelic’ maize may help increase crop and biofuel yields.” Nothing to do with LSD, though.
Scotland gets a national genebank. Well, not really, but anyway.
Malawi schoolchildren sing about food diversity. No, really.
Homo erectus ate fish as part of a pretty diverse diet. Had to wait about 2 million years for chips.
Report for 10-Year Strategy for Reduction of Vitamin & Mineral Deficiencies. “…activities to enhance dietary diversification are an attractive option for improving micronutrient status, but these have proved difficult to evaluate.” Ouch.
“Integrating Genetic Resource Conservation and Sustainable Development into Strategies to Increase the Robustness of Seed Systems.” You’ll need to pay to find out how, though. I’ll try to get a pdf, some of the authors are friends.
The role of Punjab Agricultural University in the Green Revolution. And in genetic erosion?
Enough arable land to feed world, says new French study. But not here, say Indians.
Reviving the elm in Britain one sapling at a time. How long till the next disaster, though, with such a narrow genetic base?

June 6, 2010June 6, 2010

Pest increases potato crop yields

Here’s a turn-up for the books. Potato plants in which a tuber is infested by the larva of the Gautemalan Potato Moth Tecia solanivora — “considered one of the most economically important potato pests in Latin America” — produce 2.5 times more marketable potatoes than uninfected plants. Something in the caterpillar’s saliva spreads through the plant and promotes tuber growth, giving a greater yield even when up to one in five of the tubers are infected.

Did indigenous Colombian potato farmers know of this? I couldn’t discover why the researchers had decided to investigate. In any case, the Guatemalan Potato Moth is clearly no pest. Researchers are now looking at “herbivore-derived chemical clues” and “induced compensatory plant responses to herbivory” as new ways to boost production.

June 5, 2010June 5, 2010

Nibbles: Ecosystem vulnerability, Mayan chocolate, Natural dyes, Japanese art

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.