- Global rice and wheat in Africa tweetfests going on. And speaking of Africa, IFPRI has a big report.
- Speaking of rice, read about how our friends at IRRI are rethinking the genebank.
- Speaking of tweetfests, GCARD promises to be one too. More than a conference!
- From ILRI, who will no doubt be at GCARD, the downside of urban farming. And more doom and gloom.
- Speaking of urban agriculture, RAFI has a big report. (Oh, and agriculture is not the only thing that can be peri-urban.)
- Speaking of ILRI, this time in better mood, they’re feeding improved sweetpotato and cassava varieties to improved goat breeds.
- Speaking of improved varieties, ICRISAT has them too, of millets and the like. And they came from the genebank. And they were made by breeders, who have a newsletter, did you know? This is coming up because of the CBD meeting in Hyderabad, on which more later…
- Speaking of genebanks (the USDA ones in this case), it’s not only breeders who use them. (And speaking of USDA genebanks, here’s a story about the apple one.)
- And speaking of millets, they’re magic!
- Speaking of magic, that’s the only word for chocolate, isn’t it?
- Speaking of painting yourself into a corner, do yam beans go with chocolate? No? Well, maybe medlars do.
- Speaking of fruits (good catch!), Ecuadorians find disease resistance gene in Indian banana. Or at least banana named after Indian city.
- And that, I suppose, is why you need multiple ABS regimes, despite the confusion that may cause in Hyderabad and elsewhere.
- Speaking of ABS, interesting how that doesn’t really figure in fish policy discussions.
- And finally, a propos of nothing in particular, news of an unusual wolf-dog hybrid.
Nibbles: Yams, Wild relatives, Plant breeding, Bamboo, Funding, Leaves, Red rice, Rice breeder, Governance and poverty
- Yams heading for trouble. What to do?
- Learn something from wild relatives, like they’re doing with tomatoes?
- Go for a totally new plant breeding paradigm?
- I know, let’s all go out and celebrate World Bamboo Day!
- Switzerland gives Laos US$6.3m in support of government’s agrobiodiversity initiative.
- W.K. Kellogg Foundation gives Growing Power US$5m in support of Growing Power’s urban agriculture efforts.
- National Geographic gives leaves a good going-over without mentioning agriculture.
- Farmers in Kerala give Navara red rice as a reason for good health and prosperity.
- World gives Monty Jones, rice breeder, high status.
- Paul Collier fan gives African governance the blame for low agricultural productivity.
Urban agriculture gets its 15 minutes
The World Urban Forum is taking place down in my home town this week. That I suppose was what provided at least part of the impetus for the United Nations Standing Committee on Nutrition (UNSCN) to issue a statement on the Nutrition Security of Urban Populations. Not to be outdone, FAO has a publication out too, Growing Greener Cities in Africa, touted as the “first status report on urban and peri-urban horticulture in Africa.” A cursory glance doesn’t reveal much on diversity in these documents, but this is an issue that’s always intrigued me. Could cities act as magnets for crop inter- and intraspecific diversity? After all, they have lots of micro-niches, and have been attracting people from all over for decades, who could have come with their seeds. Is it possible that varieties could still be grown in cities after they’ve disappeared in their native areas? Or at any rate that crop diversity in a city is higher than in the surrounding countryside? Sometime ago we did a small survey of sweet potato diversity in Nairobi roadside verges that seemed to suggest that the menu of varieties was at least somewhat different from what was available in nearby rural areas. Should write that up one day. Anybody know of similar studies?
Nibbles: Community gardens, Malnutrition in Peru, Good nutrition and longevity, Efficient conservation.
- A film about community gardens in the city of Washington DC.
- “Ricos en agrobiodiversidad, pero pobres en nutrición.” Huancavelica, in Peru, has plenty of agricultural biodiversity and plenty of malnutrition. Go figure.
- Good nutrition is more important than reduced calories for longevity, in rhesus monkeys at least.
- Conservation magazine reports that return on investment is the best guide to economically-efficient conservation. We ask … well, you know what we ask, right?
Nibbles: Aguaje, Super pasta, Banana battery, Tomato love, Tomato hate, Microgreens, NUS, Fortuneii, Coffee, Uran agriculture
- Today’s new superfruit. This one doesn’t surprise me.
- Tomorrow’s super-spaghetti. This one really baffles me.
- Today’s new source of bioenergy: bananas. Shocking.
- 50 ways to love your tomatoes. Turn ‘em to jam, Pam.
- One reason to hate tomatoes, for good bad muslims.
- Trendy micro greens are more nutritious. Get ‘em young, chum.
- “If they are so good, why are they not spreading on their own?” Crops for the Future gives NUS the third degree.
- Robert Fortune, pioneer biopirate.
- Forget oil, water and phosphorus. Peak coffee is as scary as it gets.
- How to save urban agriculture: by the numbers.