Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog

October 10, 2018October 10, 2018

Agrobiodiversity methods dissected

PAR has developed an online compendium of methods for assessing agrobiodiversity. Drawing on experiences from around the world, the Compendium was created to support the documentation, co-creation and sharing of knowledge about diversity and its management. The Compendium provides guidelines for the collection and analysis of data about the diversity of crops, livestock, pollinators and harvested wild plants.

PAR is the Platform for Agrobiodiversity Research. They’ve been very quiet on its various online channels since July, but clearly they haven’t been idle. Good stuff.

Oh, and since I’m on here, let me link to the latest offerings from Uli Westphal by way of agrobiodiversity illustrations, featuring the maize collections of Native Seeds/SEARCH and CIMMYT.

October 8, 2018October 8, 2018

Brainfood: Forests & diets, Homegardens & diets, Landsparing, NZ megafauna, Broomcorn millet origins, Aflatoxin in peanut, Sorghum nutrients, Sorghum & sugarcane diversity in Ethiopia, Hawaiian seedsaving, English sustainability, Wheat evaluation, Lentil review, Danish apples

Impacts of forests on children’s diet in rural areas across 27 developing countries. Exposure to forests is good for dietary diversity.
The Role of Homegardens for Food and Nutrition Security in Uganda. Homegardens too.
The challenge of feeding the world while conserving half the planet. Sparing biodiversity-rich areas means food production will take a hit.
Human Perceptions of Megafaunal Extinction Events Revealed by Linguistic Analysis of Indigenous Oral Traditions. The Maori were aware of what was happening to the moa.
Perpetuating Agricultural Heritage: Saving Seeds and Stories on Hawai‘i Island. Diverse messaging needed to reflect diverse motivations. Maybe that would have helped the moa.
Genetic evidence for a western Chinese origin of broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum). Not northern China, nor eastern Europe.
New tools to screen wild peanut species for aflatoxin accumulation and genetic fingerprinting. Let the screening begin.
Identification of new donors for spot blotch resistance in cultivated wheat germplasm. 7 out of 1483 from the Indian collection. Hard row to hoe
Nutritional variation in sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] accessions from southern Africa revealed by protein and mineral composition. Among 23 accessions, two are good for both Fe and Zn, a different one for protein, Ca and P, and a different one still for Ca and K.
Farmers’ synergistic selection criteria and practices for livelihood security through the sustainable uses of onfarm Sorghum landrace diversity, Ethiopia. Diverse selection criteria reflect diverse uses.
Sugarcane Landraces of Ethiopia: Germplasm Collection and Analysis of Regional Diversity and Distribution. Variation follows altitude. Compare and contrast with above.
To what extent has sustainable intensification in England been achieved? Not much, and only quite recently.
Lentils: Genetic Resources: Collection, Conservation, Characterization and Maintenance. More work on wild relatives needed.
Population structure, relatedness and ploidy levels in an apple gene bank revealed through genotyping-by-sequencing. 78% of 349 apple accessions in the Danish genebank are unique.

October 4, 2018October 4, 2018

Keeping up to date with data from CGN

Interested in new vegetable germplasm? The Centre for Genetic Resources, the Netherlands (CGN) has you covered.

CGN frequently adds new material to its collections and new information to its publicly available data. Via this page you can easily check what’s new!

This is the page to bookmark.

Remember that these data eventually find their way to the European genebank database, Eurisco, and thence to Genesys, which is your global gateway to germplasm collections, and thence to the Global Information System of the International Treaty. This will cover not just genebank collections, but eventually also in situ conserved material and the products of plant breeding using either of these.

October 2, 2018

Eat up Edible Memory this month

Jennifer Jordan’s Edible Memory: The Lure of Heirloom Tomatoes and Other Forgotten Foods can be downloaded free as an ebook from the University of Chicago Press website during October.

Sandra M. Gilbert, author of The Culinary Imagination: From Myth to Modernity
“Edible Memory is a compelling exploration of the lure and lore of foods that have become culinary ‘heirlooms,’ especially some kinds of tomatoes, but also apples, stone fruits, even leeks and turnips. A meticulous scholar and an incisive sociologist, Jordan writes with verve and wit throughout this beautifully nuanced study. Exploring the many varieties of culinary nostalgia, she avoids sentimentality while investigating our sometimes paradoxical yearnings for fruits and vegetables we may not even have eaten in our own lives and our curiously Proustian longings for (even) Jell-O molds and boxed cakes. Her book is an important contribution both to food studies and, more generally, to the history of taste.”

October 1, 2018

In the footsteps of M.S. Swaminathan

The M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation is looking for a new Executive Director.

MS Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) established in 1988 is a not-for-profit trust. MSSRF was envisioned and founded by Professor M S Swaminathan, agriculture scientist with proceeds from the First World Food Prize that he received in 1987. The Foundation aims to accelerate use of modern science for sustainable agricultural and rural development. MSSRF focuses specifically on tribal and rural communities with a pro-poor, pro-women and pro-nature approach. The Foundation applies appropriate science and technology options to address practical problems faced by rural populations in agriculture, food and nutrition.

Important work, important job.