Tourism

November 16, 2014

Maize field day in Mexico

Dr Denise Costich, head of the CIMMYT maize genebank (MGB) sent out a very compelling invitation a couple of days back:

Attached is the official invitation to our field day, to be held next Friday, 21 November, starting at 10:00 AM at the Toluca Station (please note the change of date). We are showcasing our beautiful materials from the high altitude Andean germplasm that, up to now, the MGB has had great difficulties in regenerating here in Mexico. We also included a demonstration plot in our nursery, featuring long forgotten genetic pools developed at the Toluca Station in the 80s and 90s, as well as, popcorns, cacahuacintles, and other landraces from the region. We are targeting the smallholder farmers from areas around 2600 masl and above. We couldn’t have done this without funding from the Global Crop Diversity Trust and ICAMEX. We also thank the Toluca Station Manager, Fernando Delgado, for his great support, interest, and encouragement. Thanks also to Hans Braun, who extended an invitation to the “maiceros” of CIMMYT to plant at this wonderful station… I’m sure I have missed people who might be interested in attending the field day. You are welcome to forward this invitation to them. However, everyone, please RSVP, so that we have enough food and catalogs!

It sounds like great fun, and I wish I could go, but I can’t. Maybe you can?

November 4, 2014November 3, 2014

Nibbles: Easy Eleusine, Ethical down, Bison pix, Svalbard pix, Salinity costs, Nutrition conference, Veggies for nutrition

Finger millet is the future in Zimbabwe.
Conventional down has a problem. I do prefer unconventional down myself.
They had National Bison Day and nobody told us.
Epic’s Excellent Svalbard Adventure.
Start planning for next year’s cucurbit conference.
Soil salinity sucks.
On the other hand, this nutrition conference is in only a couple of weeks. And there will be radio.
Not that these Indonesian ladies will need that.

November 1, 2014November 1, 2014

Dia de los Muertos at CIMMYT

Thanks to Dr Denise Costich, manager of the maize collection at CIMMYT, for this photo of the decorations currently gracing the lobby of the genebank building.

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And let’s all “Like” the genebank’s new Facebook page, which features this and other nice photos!

October 30, 2014November 1, 2014

That’s from the “[s]plendid, viscerally engaging … groundbreaking exhibition” called Fiber: Sculpture 1960-Present, now on at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston. And it was pretty cool. But would it have killed them to include some pictures, or even live examples, of the plant (and animal) sources of the raw materials for objects such as this? ((BTW, do you remember that 2009 was the International Year of Natural Fibres?))