That caterpillar fungus — in depth

Maybe you weren’t tempted by the Nibble of caterpillar mushroom we served up a week ago. Today the Guardian gives you another bite at the cherry, as it were.

[T]he value of Yartsa Gunbu has increased more than ninefold since 1997, creating what mycologist Daniel Winkler calls a “globally unique rural fungal economy” on the Tibetan Plateau.

It has everything, this story — poor people, over-exploitation, lack of diversity, government meddling — and the report includes some great photographs. Is anyone, though working to cultivate or domesticate the Summer Grass Winter Worm?

Oh, and here’s some science again. And our post from three years ago. ((Are we some kind of resource, or what?))

Nibbles: Grasscutters, Geographical indicators, GMO bananas, UK farming

Mangoes and lychees save girls’ lives

A heart-warming story from BBC News: in the village of Dharhara in India, parents plant 10 or more fruit trees when a baby girl is born. The trees mature slightly faster than the girls, and by the time a girl is nubile the profits from the sale of fruit is more than enough to pay the bride price commonly required by the groom’s family. Bihar has the highest death rate among families who cannot pay a bride price. But not in Dharhara.

Nibbles: Roses, Stripe Rust, Cuba, Carnival, India, GCARD, Urban ag, Genetic diversity and herbivory, Biocultural diversity