Yes, yet another thematic trifecta. I swear I don’t go out looking for these, they just pop up every once in a while. CABI’s excellent blog had a piece today about CABI’s own fungal genetic resources collection and its value as a source of useful compounds. It includes Fleming’s original penicillin-producing strain so it does have form in that regard. Then Seeds Aside has a post on variation among olive varieties in a gene for an allergenic protein found on the pollen grain. And finally, over at the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, a thumbnail sketch of the redoubtable Phebe Lankester, who wrote extensively on both botany and health — and occasionally on the link between the two — in the latter part of the 19th century. 1
More on thatching
A couple of weeks back I alluded to problems in the thatching industry in the UK and linked to a piece by Danny at Rurality. Well, I put in the wrong link (now fixed), and anyway Danny’s post was pretty short and it was talking about an article that is not online. But never fear, if you’re really interested in the crisis in British thatching, you can read about it in the Telegraph. Or you can get the bullet-point version at Cronaca.
Evidence-based conservation
The latest issue of the Cambridge Alumni Magazine has a section on biodiversity conservation. Nothing at all on agrobiodiversity, alas, but a footnote did send me to an interesting video of Prof. William Sutherland talking about “evidence-based conservation.” 2 He also says nothing specifically about the importance of conserving agricultural biodiversity — which is ironic given that the opening example in his talk concerns the nutritional importance of the fruit of a cultivated species — but I think his thesis is generally applicable. And that thesis is, paraphrasing somewhat, that there are too many meta-narratives in conservation and not enough data. 3 He’s put together a website where experimental evidence for and against the efficacy of specific interventions aimed at solving specific conservation problems can be documented and discussed.
Going down to the market
Markets for agrobiodiversity to the fore today. Two resources highlighted by Eldis look at strategies for agricultural diversification and at the importance of assessing market potential in prioritizing among indigenous fruit trees for promotion and development. And once you get your high-value agricultural product to market you will want to guard against pilferage and counterfeiting, won’t you?
Higher food prices
OK, so there’s no direct link with agricultural biodiversity, but if you’re the least bit interested in the subject you will be aware of the flap over higher food prices. A lot of tosh has been written on the subject, so I was pleased to see a fine article on food prices by Paul Krugman 4 that gives a pretty good overview. I found it through an Economist blog, which had this to say:
What’s needed, of course, is a lender of last resort. An overarching entity–a central bank for grain–could help to solve the collective action problem hindering market function. If everyone participates in the market, then prices will be lower and supplies surer than if individual nations defect.
Unfortunately, it isn’t clear what institutions might be able to step into the current void. And grain isn’t the same as fiat money. Where a central bank can respond to desperate liquidity shortages by printing money, grain must be grown. With stockpiles at 20 year lows, there doesn’t seem to be much room for grain injections. As Mr Krugman says, “[I]t’s not clear how much can be done. Cheap food, like cheap oil, may be a thing of the past.”
Get used to it.