Tourism

Nibbles: Millennium Seed Bank 25th, NPGS, Maize germplasm, Breadfruit genebank, Banana genebank

King Charles III talks about seeds with Dr Elinor Breman of Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank and…
…Cate Blanchett.
Or read about it in The Economist.
Or watch a nice video.
The seed banks of the National Plant Germplasm System in the USA are for farmers, not just researchers.
How to get stuff out of the NPGS.
Laurajean Lewis: from an NPGS genebank to CIMMYT’s.
I’m sure she and Chris Mujjabi will get to know each other soon.
Diane Ragone: Not all genebanks are seed banks.
Not a lot of breadfruits in Belgium but, surprisingly, lots of bananas.

Dr Fiona Hay, seed scientist, on why we need genebanks, including seed banks.
Prof. Richard Ellis retires. A genebank legend, as Fiona would probably agree.
FAO exhibition goes From Seeds to Foods. By way of genebanks, no doubt.
And peasants, of course. No, it’s not a derogatory word, settle down.
Can Green Revolution breeding approaches (and genebanks) help peasants deal with climate change?
Even genebanks need a back-up plan though.
New Mexico genebank helps out Danish chef.
The history of the Concord grape and its foxiness. Chefs intrigued.
The history of Aport and Amasya apples. No foxiness involved, as far as I know. Genebanks? Probably.
The origin of caffeine. Now do foxiness.
Where did collards come from anyway? No, not genebanks. Bloody historians, always re-writing history.

People in the Nejapan Sierra Sur in Oaxaca, Mexico had a seed bank 400-700 years ago so they could re-create their complex cuisine after disruptions.
How MSSRF revived millets in Odisha, India. You think a seed bank was involved?
Meanwhile, in Meghalaya (also India), foraged foods are helping to diversify state-provided school lunches and address chronic malnutrition. Talk about complex cuisine. Are all these species in a seed bank somewhere, though? Do they need to be?
How the National Soybean Germplasm Collection at the Agricultural Research Service lab in Urbana, Illinois helped save soybeans in Iowa.
University breeding programmes are keeping the apple afloat in the USA. That and genebanks.
Farmers and agrotourism are bringing back some cool flavors in Albania. Well, that and the Albanian Gene Bank.
Fish need genebanks too, and Bangladesh is on it. Did ancient Bangladeshis have them, I wonder?

What’s wrong with supermarkets.
Cate Blanchett on the Millennium Seed Bank. Attitude to supermarkets unknown.
Access & Benefit Sharing 101. Cate Blanchett unavailable for comment.
Experts weigh in on how we should change how we eat. Nobody but Cate Blanchett will listen, but supermarkets and seeds feature, for what it’s worth.
How they ate in the Middle Ages without supermarkets. Or at least harvested.
After we’re done with medieval haymaking, let’s bring back the aurochs too. And put it in a supermarket?
Yeah but what is a breed anyway? Or an aurochs, for that matter.

Three Sisters rematriated to historical Cherokee Nation.
Native grains returning to Indigenous land in Australia too.
May need to bring back agricultural practices too, like in Peru.
Meanwhile, in India, farmers are trying to grow apples in new places. Go figure.
Anyway, seems like the IFOAM Seeds Platform might be able to help.
And genebanks too of course, like the Millennium Seed Bank.
As part of a comprehensive conservation systems, goes without saying, like in China.
Which also include climate-proof protected areas.
It worked for soybeans, after all.
Well, for now anyway…