- What must be done about sorghum in Africa, by someone who should know because they worked at ICRISAT, which has a sorghum genebank.
- ICRISAT also has pearl millet genebanks — in India and Africa. So when did pearl millet become “alternative” in India? Well, at least it’s not on this list of “indigenous foods.”
- 3000 rice genomes (from the IRRI genebank), and 1000 bull genomes. Brave new world.
- The CIAT genebank makes the news, and not a genome in sight.
- An in situ forest genebank deep in the heart of Sabah.
- And you can bet they’re all saving seeds the right way. But there’s always a webinar if not. Or this.
- Micronutrients? It’s the food system, stupid. Yes, indeedy. And there’s even a webinar about it.
- The fascinating microbial system of cheese rinds.
- Sauerkraut has a pretty fascinating microbial system too, I bet.
- Artisanal whiskey is a thing? Isn’t it, basically, moonshine?
- Truffle oil is a scam. Damn.
- Coconut water tries not to seem a scam.
- Heifer Farm shows off its weird carrots. Yeah, they’re more than just about livestock at Heifer.
- Though that doesn’t include insects, I don’t think. Yes, insects.
- Or bluefin tuna. Or the vaquita. But enough of that.
- Plenty of weird tomatoes on this great wiki I came across.
Brainfood: Greek olives, Slovak grapes, Wild cotton, Livestock breeding, Urban veggies, Dismal millet, Beautiful plumage, Nutritious millet, Kiwifruit double
- Genetic structure of the Greek olive germplasm revealed by RAPD, ISSR and SSR markers. Reflects usage.
- Genotyping of Vitis vinifera L. within the Slovak national collection of genetic resources. Unclear whether it reflects usage.
- Molecular confirmation of species status for the allopolyploid cotton species, Gossypium ekmanianum Wittmack. It has been hiding in collections as “wild” G. hirsutum, but it really isn’t.
- North American animal breeding and production: meeting the needs of a changing landscape. We’ll need a better fit of genotype to production environment, better meat quality, better animal health and decreased residual feed intake; climate change will make it more difficult, but it will still be possible, especially using new genomic tools.
- Urban agriculture: a global analysis of the space constraint to meet urban vegetable demand. We’re going to need bigger cities, to grow enough vegetables in them, to feed them. No, wait…
- Niche Markets for Agrobiodiversity Conservation: Preference and Scale Heterogeneity Effects on Nepalese Consumers’ WTP for Finger Millet Products. That’s Willingness to Pay. And there is a bit of the population with enough of it to suggest that a price premium could translate into more acreage. And maybe more public investment.
- Selection and Crossbreeding in Relation to Plumage Color Inheritance in Three Chinese Egg Type Duck Breeds (Anas platyrhynchos). Hybrids are better layers, but then you can lose the desired plumage. Here’s how to have your beautiful duck and eat it too.
- Micronutrient Density and Stability in West African Pearl Millet — Potential for Biofortification. There is some, but there would be more if some Indian material was used in breeding too.
- Genetic diversity in kiwifruit polyploid complexes: insights into cultivar evaluation, conservation, and utilization. Interploid crosses can increase genetic diversity. The red-fleshed cultivars are genetically distinct. Red? Really?
- Natural hybridization, introgression breeding, and cultivar improvement in the genus Actinidia. We should collect new material in natural hybrid zones.
Nibbles: Pig genes, Eating pork, Mesoamerican crops, Apple family farming, Global food security, Wild food in Europe, Student crop videos, Important plants, Teff, Finger millet, Pacific NW grains, African veggies, Genius mangoes
- Asian genes in European pigs are a good thing.
- How about American pigs though?
- Great Spanish language cacao infographic. And more along the same lines.
- Innovative apple family farming in the Tyrol.
- Not sure that will be much use in terms of global food security, as per this recent review, but you never know. Because, you know, climate change?
- Well, there’s always wild food. Though in some places more than others.
- Student videos on the origin of food plants.
- But did any of them change their lives?
- Oxfam thinks teff can change lives.
- Different part of same continent, different grain to revitalize.
- Different continent, different grains to revitalize.
- Bah, who needs cereals when you have indigenous vegetables?
- Wait, what? Seedless mangoes? Why is this not first-page news?
Brainfood: Agricultural anthropology special edition, Breeding gourami, FGR indicators, Solanum phenomics, Organic aphids, Restoration genetics, Wild Vigna, Genebanks & genomics
- Tending the Field: Special Issue on Agricultural Anthropology and Robert E. Rhoades. Agrobiodiversity conservation, participatory and collaborative research, and the politics of agricultural development.
- Genetic Diversity of Siamese Gourami from Sumatra, Java and Kalimantan for Selective Breeding of Fish Culture. Yeah, but does it taste nice? Time for some fishicultural anthropology, methinks.
- Global to local genetic diversity indicators of evolutionary potential in tree species within and outside forests. You can’t use indirect indicators of pressure, benefit or response independently of state indicators for genetic diversity. Anyway, here’s a bunch of all of those for you to ponder.
- Conventional and phenomics characterization provides insight into the diversity and relationships of hypervariable scarlet (Solanum aethiopicum L.) and gboma (S. macrocarpon L.) eggplant complexes. High-throughput phenotyping platform built for tomatoes distinguishes between really variable complexes of other solanaceous berries.
- Organic vs. conventional farming dichotomy: Does it make sense for natural enemies? Yes.
- Genes are not information: Rendering plant genetic resources untradeable through genetic restoration practices. Decommodify to commodify. No, really.
- Prioritising in situ conservation of crop resources: A case study of African cowpea (Vigna unguiculata). 9 of 13 priority wild cowpea taxa are likely to be found in protected areas.
- Genebanks and genomics: how to interconnect data from both communities? Beyond databases.
Nibbles: Prof. Mithen, Commons, Park Grass, Maize genome dupe, Training breeders, Insect-eating fungi, Shea, Teff breeding, Cannabis genome, Organic study, Old sunflower domestication, Rick’s tomatoes
- Developer of super broccoli reflects on his career. With photo of collectors in NSFW shorts.
- Touring the commons of the world. Thankfully no tight shorts in sight.
- Video explaining Rothamsted’s Park Grass experiment. Apparel entirely acceptable, don’t worry.
- Ten million-year-old genome duplication finally came good when ancient farmers domesticated maize.
- Training materials for African breeders to be developed.
- Fungal diversity to the rescue of plants, for a change.
- Africa’s black soap.
- Improving teff. That’s a low bar, I suspect.
- A genome I’m sure we can all get behind.
- Oh dear, that organic meta-analysis “flawed” after all. Will it ever end?
- Rethinking sunflower domestication. An oldie but goldie, which re-surfaced today for some reason. Does anyone know where we are with this now?
- The Deliverance of tomatoes.