Vegetables

June 22, 2011June 21, 2011

Making the most of bitter gourd diversity at AVRDC

Another interesting agrobiodiversity piece in AVRDC’s newletter today:

The AVRDC Nutrition group is locked in a struggle with a cucurbit – and so far, warty Momordica charantia appears to be winning! As part of the project “A better bitter gourd: exploiting bitter gourd to increase incomes, manage type 2 diabetes, and promote health in developing countries,” researchers have begun preparing samples of the vegetable for later laboratory analysis.

Interested? “Like” the project’s Facebook page then!

June 20, 2011June 20, 2011

Brainfood: Soil, Seed aging, Organic sustainability, Yaquis, Garlic, Rice bean, Ethiopian livestock, Sweet potato intercropping, PES

Long-term effect of tillage, nitrogen fertilization and cover crops on soil organic carbon and total nitrogen content. No till is better than conservation tillage.
Catalase is a key enzyme in seed recovery from ageing during priming. It sure is. Good to know.
Sustainable agriculture: A case study of a small Lopez Island farm. The authors conclude: “the need for future targeted nutrient inputs cannot be ruled out for sustainable long-term production”.
Evolution of the knowledge system for agricultural development in the Yaqui Valley, Sonora, Mexico. They’re innovative, and diversity promotes agility.
Changes in phenolic compounds in garlic (Allium sativum L.) owing to the cultivar and location of growth. Don’t hold your breath; only 10 varieties.
Morpho-physiological and nutritional characterization of rice bean (Vigna umbellata). Now that’s what I call science; 30 varieties.
Rural livestock asset portfolio in northern Ethiopia: a microeconomic analysis of choice and accumulation. Many, many factors come into play.
Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L.)-based strip intercropping: I. Interspecific interactions and yield advantage. Almost every intercrop improves yield and bottom line.
Should payments for biodiversity conservation be based on action or results? A model says: “It depends.”

June 16, 2011June 16, 2011

Nibbles: SusAg WWF-style, Obesity, Innovation, African farmers, Cyanobacteria, Climate change experiment

See what WWF thinks will make agriculture sustainable.
Americans are dying younger. Obesity partly to blame.
Study shows how scientists can get farmers to innovate. And vice versa?
Iron-age beer in France. “Beer … might have resembled modern home brews.” Which might have created a nation of wine-drinkers.
Voice of America ♥ Nourishing the Planet. (African farmers also important.)
Bacteria in mosses on tree branches fertilize forest soils. How long before the whole thing is available in a packet?
Bioengineering the prairie. Together with, presumably, its crop wild relatives.

June 13, 2011June 13, 2011

Nibbles: Millet, Goat, Heirloom Veg, Tamarind, Rice domestication, Rice sustainability, Microbes, Competition

The importance of multi-purpose crops in Africa.
The importance of multi-purpose goats, everywhere.
Target reader reviews The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Heirloom Vegetables.
Tamarind charcoal loses out to tamarind drink, Malawian villagers rejoice.
Has intellectual piracy been with us since humans first became engaged in agricultural production? AoB blog asks the tough ones.
Land-use intensity and Ecological Engineering – Assessment Tools for risks and Opportunities in irrigated rice based production systems launched. Glad they have an acronym.
Microbe diversity matters too.
OK, so nobody nominated us, but the semi-finalists at the 3QD science writing competition have been announced.

June 10, 2011June 10, 2011

Nibbles: Wheat disease, Dried vegetables, Gates spending in Africa, Canadian spending in India, Ethiopian wheat

Wheat disease understood; sequence of leaf blotch fungus.
Wheat disease conquered? “Super varieties” resistant to UG99 and yield 15% more. What could go wrong?
Zambian farmers urged to dry vegetables for fun and profit (and better nutrition).
Gates Foundations has spent US$1.7 billion on agriculture in Africa, so far.
Swaminathan Foundation scores Canadian support for research on agriculture, poverty and nutrition. h/t PAR.
Bioversity Seeds for Needs distributes preselected genebank wheat varieties to Ethiopian women farmers to adapt to climate change.