Vegetables

September 24, 2015

Parsnip seeds of success

Whatever the ICRAF genebank can do to get germplasm out there, the Warwick Crop Centre can also do, though admittedly these seem to be improved varieties, developed in collaboration with the private sector:

Seed packs to celebrate @warwickuni50 – and highlights @WarwickLifeSci @WarwickCrop and @Elsomsseeds partnerships pic.twitter.com/Y4mukYZ7RQ

— UKVGB (@WarwickGRU) September 24, 2015

September 22, 2015September 22, 2015

Nibbles: Pig landrace, Campbell’s Soup tomato, HarvestPlus, CG & SDGs, Georgian wine, American vegetables, Kenya & nutrition, Equator Prize, Wheat breeding

So there’s a “celebrity pork expert.” No, not David Cameron, Carl Blake.
Nevermind about resurrecting pig breeds, how about resurrecting “America’s best tomato“?
Mapping biofortification outreach.
CG writes letter to heads of state on SDGs. But will they listen?
How they store wine in Georgia.
US needs more veggies. Don’t we all.
Kenya is a nutrition star.
The Equator Prize 2015 winners are in.
Article on wheat illustrated with picture of millet labelled sorghum

September 21, 2015September 21, 2015

Brainfood: Cowpea evaluation, Varietal mixtures, Eragrostis core, Nigerian cassava diversity, Turkish alfalfa, Italian wild grapes, Cleome veggie, AnGR history

Genotypic difference in salinity tolerance during early vegetative growth of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp.) from Myanmar. 3 out of 21 seems a pretty good proportion.
Epidemiological and evolutionary management of plant resistance: optimizing the deployment of cultivar mixtures in time and space in agricultural landscapes. Best to combine with rotations.
Barnyard millet global core collection evaluation in the submontane Himalayan region of India using multivariate analysis. Three groups: India, Japan, and everything else.
Determinants of on-farm cassava biodiversity in Ogun State, Nigeria. Experience and size of farm.
Historical Alfalfa Landraces Perform Higher Yield Under Dry Farming in Turkey. At least at these two locations in Kars. One does wonder why breeders bother, though.
Identification and characterization of Vitis vinifera subsp. sylvestris populations in north-western Italy. Was thought to be lost in Piedmont, but 5 small wild populations found, in danger of contamination from the crop.
Cleome viscosa: a promising underutilized minor crop. Worth a try, though the name is hardly promising.
Changing values of Farm Animal Genomic Resources. From historical breeds to the Nagoya Protocol. Everything is political now. Welcome to my world.

September 18, 2015September 18, 2015

Nibbles: Beautiful downtown Burbank, Oz rice weed and nuts, Teff embargo, Kew Gardens, Cherokee seeds, Vegetables semantics, MLN progress, Fishy chart, Inuit fishy diet, Bioversity photo fix, African food security, ICIPE cashes in, Root & tuber congress, Smallholders, EU agroecology, Sackville Hamilton, Kiwifruit history, USDA pathogen collection

Luther Burbank “…was willing to cross just about anything that had leaves…”
No, rice did not originate in northern Australia. Not in the sense those words are usually used.
Aussies to embrace cannabis. But not in the sense those words are usually used.
Australian exporters nuts for more than just macadamia. Ah, interdependence…
Meanwhile, Ethiopian teff exporters licking their lips in anticipation.
Kew is bigger than the sum of its parts.
Cherokee Nation genebanker gets award.
Yes, BBC, vegetables exist, let’s move on.
Maize Lethal Necrosis on its last legs? Well, “progress is being made” at any rate.
The Economist’s daily chart is on declining fish stocks. Why have they gone all warm and fuzzy lately? Something in the zeitgeist?
Inuit are genetically adapted to their fishy diet.
Damn it, I lost! Probably fixed.
Africa sets up a new institution for food security. Which is not the same as hunger, we are told. But is it malnutrition.
ICIPE scales up and out. More impact than any “new institution” is going to achieve.
World Congress on Root & Tuber Crops has a new website.
It’s the smallholders, stupid. Like the ones growing tea in Kenya, frinstance.
The EU to discuss agroecology. Yesterday, alas.
IRRI and Plant Treaty to share an IT-savvy genebank manager.
How kiwifruit became kiwifruit.
Microbes have collections too.

September 9, 2015September 9, 2015

Nibbles: Tomato diversity, Coffee trial, Basque genetics, Water and ag, Heirlooms galore, 3 trillion trees, Agroforestry, Old oats, IP in ag, Food companies and CC, Wheat Initiative, Crop game, Eggplant breeding, E African drought

One crazy French guy, 1134 tomato varieties.
The World Coffee Research International Multi Location Variety Trial really gets off the grounds. See what I did there?
The Basques descend from Neolithic farmers.
Ancient Sri Lankan irrigation systems. Which Bangladesh doesn’t need.
National Heirloom Expo is on.
Did we link to this three-trillion-tree story yet? I don’t think so. How many are edible fruit trees, I wonder?
…or indeed agroforestry and fertilizer trees. Always worth listening to Jules Pretty.
So much for the Paleolithic Diet.
In agricultural innovation, “optimal IPR use depends on the technology itself as well as on market conditions.”
Multinational food companies found to be short-sighted shock.
The global impacts of UK food consumption.
The Wheat Initiative has an agenda.
Can you recognize these crops? ‘Course you can.
Eggplant pre-breeding project involving wild relatives makes mainstream media. Faith in humanity restored. Until you see what else is on that page.
Drought hits Ethiopia. Let them eat sweet potatoes?