Category: Tourism

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Nibbles: Agrobiodiversity, HealthyDiets4Africa, Warwick genebank, NPGS trifecta, Florida potatoes, On farm, Guatemalan community seed banks, Welsh black oats, WorldVeg genebank, Turkish olive genebank, Citrus genebank, Orchard of Flavours, Piper diversity, Ancient Egyptian food, Chocolate & world history, Ancient DNA & breeding

  1. What has agrobiodiversity ever done for us? Kent Nnadozie of the Plant Treaty lays it out.
  2. Michael Frei of the HealthyDiets4Africa project doesn’t need it laid out.
  3. Neither do the people who awarded a prize to Charlotte Allender of the UK Vegetable Genebank.
  4. What has the US National Plant Germplasm System ever done for anyone? The Guardian, the NY Times and NPR News lay it out. I guess someone in D.C. needs it laid out, but will it make any difference?
  5. Everyone: Potatoes in Florida! Breeders: No problem. NPGS: You called?
  6. Here’s The Guardian again, but this time thinking it is making the case for not putting seeds in the fridge, whereas in fact it’s making the case for the complementarity of ex situ and on-farm conservation.
  7. Speaking of on-farm conservation, here’s a couple of pieces on community seed banks in Guatemala.
  8. Speaking of on-farm conservation, here’s the heart-warming story of Welsh organic farmer Gerald Miles.
  9. Meanwhile, the World Vegetable Centre opens a new genebank.
  10. And Türkiye hosts an international, no less, olive genebank.
  11. And genebanks can be so beautiful, like works of art. Former Tate Modern director Vicente Todolí lays out his citrus samples. I wonder what he could do with olives.
  12. Botanic gardens are beautiful and often act a little bit like crop genebanks. Here’s an example from Portugal I stumbled onto recently, I forget how.
  13. You know what I’d like to see? An international pepper genebank, that’s what. No, not the kind that might be in those Guatemalan community seedbanks or the WorldVeg genebank. This sort of pepper. Piper pepper.
  14. I bet the ancient Egyptians had pepper. Egyptian archaeologist Mennat-Allah El Dorry lays out what else they had.
  15. Maybe you could lay out world history using pepper. You can definitely do so using cacao and chocolate.
  16. No, not using ancient DNA, but actually…
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Nibbles: USDA NPGS, Korean seed museum, Endangered plants, National security, Sicilian grapevines, Mike Jackson again

  1. A way to get free seeds from the US government? Yeah probably not. And if so, maybe not for long?
  2. Ok, let’s try the Korean government then.
  3. A way to find endangered plants in the US. And get the government to protect them, of course.
  4. A way to ensure national security? Why, conserving crop diversity of course. Government unavailable for comment.
  5. A way to ensure the future of Sicilian wine? See above.
  6. A genebanker looks back on the 1990s. And, given all of the above, sees that not much has changed?
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Nibbles: KC Bansal, Mike Jackson, Spain strawberry genebank, Ho-Chunk maize, Heritage varieties, Roman apples, Hazelnut breeding, Old rye, Serbia grapevine herbarium, Horse domestication, Mt Vernon fruits, Worldwide Day of Botanical Art, Pre-colonial African agriculture

  1. Prof. KC Bansal, who used to run the Indian national genebank, gets a much-deserved UNESCO honour.
  2. Friend-of-the-blog Dr Mike Jackson on running a rice genebank. UNESCO honour for him too?
  3. Spain’s strawberry genebank gets its 15 minutes.
  4. University and Native American nation collaborate on regenerating heritage corn varieties.
  5. The pros and cons of heritage varieties, according to an American farmer.
  6. Did the ancient Romans have heritage apples?
  7. Beautifully written piece on the use of heritage varieties — and much else besides — in breeding hazelnuts in the US. If you only read one of these Nibbles, read this one.
  8. Old shipwrecked rye seeds may end up in whiskey. Best place for them.
  9. Old Serbian grapevine herbarium samples should stay right where they are.
  10. Old horses most certainly did not stay where they were. But where was that exactly?
  11. Not sure where old bottled fruit from Washington’s estate will end up. The DNA lab maybe, like those Serbian grapevines?
  12. There’s going to be a Worldwide Day of Botanical Art on May 18, 2025. Rejoice.
  13. Decolonizing food insecurity in West Africa.
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Nibbles: China grasslands, Edible lily, Ag data, China potatoes, CIP genebank, Vavilov book, Ghana seeds, Nutrition enterprises, Seed production films, Khoury pod, Relais & Châteaux

  1. China rehabilitates its grasslands.
  2. Not content with that, China breeds a new edible lily.
  3. Not sure what food group lilies are in, but farmers are growing more fruits and vegetables, it seems.
  4. Still not resting on its lilies, China breeds climate-smart potatoes.
  5. No doubt CIP and its genebank is helping with that.
  6. There’s a new book on Vavilov and his genebank. He knew a thing or two about potatoes.
  7. Ghana is totally on board with the whole genebank thing. And the Dutch are helping.
  8. Genebanks should hook up with small- and medium-sized enterprises for nutrition. What, not large ones?
  9. Genebanks also need nice education films on seed production.
  10. Friend-of-the-blog Colin Khoury interviewed on In Defence of Plants podcast.
  11. Luxury hotels and restaurants hook up with UNESCO to protect biodiversity. Vavilov would have been so proud.
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Brainfood: EU landraces, EU GIs, Citizen fruit scientists, Nordic potatoes, Czech wheat, German wheat, Wild Brassica collecting, Chinese & European soybeans, Italian goats