My good friend Cesar Azurdia has alerted me to the publication of the book Guatemala y su Biodiversidad. Chapter 9 focuses on agricultural biodiversity. There’s a lot of great stuff on homegardens, crop wild relatives, effects of climate change etc., all subjects very dear to our heart here.
Plan of action against UG99
Despite reassuring words from the Indian Minister of Agriculture at the start of the meeting 1, FAO announced that delegates of the 31 countries represented at the “International Conference on Wheat Stem Rust Ug99 – A Threat to Food Security” in New Delhi have pledged to support prevention and control of UG99. They agreed:
- to share surveillance information;
- that a global early warning system should be immediately established;
- that plant breeding research should be intensified; and
- that rust resistant wheat varieties should be distributed to farmers.
Davis’ Genetic Resources Conservation Program closes down
Cuts in California state funding have led to the closure of the Genetic Resources Conservation Program at UC Davis. This seems terribly short-sighted of Gov. Schwarzenneger, who is being talked about as a possible Secretary of Energy under Pres. Obama.
Nibbles: Bees, Millennium Villages, Oaks, Wolf, CWR
- “Francis Ratnieks, the UK’s only professor of apiculture, is undertaking pioneering research based on a breed of worker bee genetically programmed to keep hives clean.”
- Scaling up the Millennium Villages. Still no news on what it all means for agrobiodiversity.
- Good news for New England acorn lovers. Including the artisanal pork industry?
- The Ethiopian wolf is in trouble.
- The Crop Wild Relatives Discussion Group reaches 250 member, 200 messages. Well done.
What’s a bison worth these days?
$4906.25, according to a post by David Willcove, excellent conservation biologist. He points out that a Colorado rancher was fined $157,000 for illegally killing 32 bison that had wandered onto his land last winter. Willcove discusses the conflict between wildlife and livestock in terms of the fear of disease. Bison could transmit brucellosis to cattle, but, Willcove says,
There has never been a documented case of a wild bison transmitting brucellosis to a cow, but the mere possibility that it could happen is enough to cause the State of Montana to insist on the death penalty for all bison that wander outside the park boundary (unless they can be chased back into the park…but try making a bison go where you want it to go).
You would think it might be possible for livestock and wildlife to co-exist, especially in a place where it really is not a matter of life and death, and Willcove has some suggestions to achieve that. But don’t hold your breath.