Wageningen University in the Netherlands is holding a six-week training programme in the conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources. Full details are available on the Wageningen web site, and the closing date is 21 April.
Future prospects for European crop varieties
Last time I looked at the state of seed availability in Europe and how it got that way: a one-size-fits-all approach that suits industrial growers and their breeders well enough but that leaves gardeners and specialist growers out in the cold. This time, what are they doing about it.
This whole discussion began with the prosecution of the Kokopelli Association in France for selling seeds of unregistered varieties. That provoked disbelief and a note that change was being discussed. So it is. The version I saw of the “Draft Commission Directive establishing the specific conditions under which seed and propagating material of agricultural and vegetable species may be marketed in relation to the conservation in situ and the sustainable use of plant genetic resources through growing and marketing” is due to come into force on 1 April 2007
I shall refrain from the obvious joke.
The provisions of the draft are somewhat complex, and in boiling them down I will almost certainly get something wrong. But in essence, a “conservation variety” or “amateur variety … with no intrinsic value for commercial production” can be sold within a “bio-geographic region” without having to be registered under the previous seed marketing directives. There are many other conditions hedged about, like the colour of the labels and the minimum size of the packages. Two stick out. The total seed sold for each conservation variety shall not exceed 0.1% of the seed of that species used each year in the country concerned. And marketing is limited to the bio-geographic region of origin or adaptation of the variety.
Continue reading “Future prospects for European crop varieties”
Impact study with impact
Eldis Agriculture points to a report of a study: Does enhancing information flow to farmers increase rural incomes? Bottom line, it does. At least in the specific Nigerian case studied. Farmers who had taken part in an information project knew more about improved farm practices, had higher incomes, and suffered fewer sick days, although the last difference was not statistically significant. Track down the full report from Eldis.
ABS agreement under the microscope
I’m no expert on access and benefit sharing, but I do know that it is important to give the farmers who developed and maintain agricultural biodiversity a fair share in any profits that may flow from the commercialization of traditional varieties. Over at Blogging Biodiversity, Kathryn offers a detailed analysis of an agreement between the Ethiopian government and a Dutch company that underpins the company’s attempts to do something with teff (Eragrostis tef), the staple grain of Ethiopia. People who are interested in that sort of thing will find it interesting.
More money for tomato genomes
Here’s one that squeaked under the radar a while back. The US is investing US$1.8 million to continue sequencing the tomato and other related plants of the Solanacae family. According to a press release, the work will form part of the “comprehensive International Solanaceae Genomics Project (SOL) Genomics Network database. This will tie together maps and genomes of all plants in the Solanaceae family, also called nightshades, which includes the potato, eggplant, pepper and petunia and is closely related to coffee from the Rubiaceae family.” The data will be fully public.
Just to bring the tomato back down to earth, genius writer Harold McGee points to a scientific paper that could help growers produce tastier tomatoes with absolutely no genomic knowledge. Water them with a dilute salt solution. A solution of 0.1% sodium chloride results in tomatoes with “significantly higher levels of flavorful organic acids and sugars, and as much as a third more vitamin C and beta-carotene (the precursor to vitamin A) and the antioxidant red pigment lycopene,” McGee says. The tomatoes are smaller, but who cares?