Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog

May 31, 2018June 1, 2018

99% genebanks

Svalbard is a remote Norwegian archipelago with reindeer, Arctic foxes and only around 2,500 humans — but it is also home to a vault containing seeds for virtually every edible plant one can imagine. The mountainside Crop Trust facility has thousands of varieties of corn, rice and more, serving as a seed backup for humanity. For each crop, there’s an envelope with 500 seeds.

Nice podcast, as ever, and glad they removed the reference to coconuts in the text, originally in there with rice and corn.

May 28, 2018May 28, 2018

The 10th World Potato Congress starts today in Cuzco. If you’re there and the panoply of social networking opportunities available is not enough for you, let us know and we’ll give you a platform here.

May 28, 2018May 25, 2018

How to help plants species get their mojo back

The Species Recovery Manual is just out, thanks to Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) and the International Association of Botanic Gardens (IABG).

Species recovery involves many different disciplines and actors, and responsibility for it at a national level is often unclear, given that it cuts across different ministries and agencies. After various consultations, it was felt by BGCI and IABG that it would be valuable to produce a manual that would clarify the aims and purpose of species recovery, set out the various steps involved, and indicate good practice. This manual is aimed specifically at conservation practitioners but also includes comprehensive bibliographic references, which enable more in depth reading on the topics covered in this publication. The manual includes chapters and case studies from members of the Ecological Restoration Alliance of Botanic Gardens.

Lots of great advice on everything from planning to seed sampling strategies to community participation.

May 28, 2018May 16, 2018

Brainfood: Cassava breeding, Teosinte gaps, Arabidopsis and CC, Urban pineapple, Minnesota apples, European CWR, Spiderplant review, British condiments, Yeast diversity, Diversity & productivity

Toward improving photosynthesis in cassava: Characterizing photosynthetic limitations in four current African cultivars. The landraces are better at photosynthesis than the improved cultivars. Maybe because the aim of producing the latter was pest and disease resistance rather than yield.
Ecogeography of teosinte. Only 11% in protected areas.
A map of climate change-driven natural selection in Arabidopsis thaliana. Summer is coming.
Urban backyards as a new model of pineapple germplasm conservation. Two thirds of citizen scientists did a really good job.
Identification of unknown apple (Malus × domestica) cultivars demonstrates the impact of local breeding program on cultivar diversity. 330 unknown highly diverse trees in northern Minnesota, 264 unique genotypes, 76 matched to 20 named cultivars from local breeding program at the University of Minnesota, or imported Russian cultivars.
Development of national crop wild relative conservation strategies in European countries. 30 countries: 13 in preparation stage, 14 with drafts, and 3 not yet started.
Current knowledge and breeding perspectives for the spider plant (Cleome gynandra L.): a potential for enhanced breeding of the plant in Africa. I actually like the bitterness of the leaves.
Condiments before Claudius: new plant foods at the Late Iron Age oppidum at Silchester, UK. Benefits of a customs union, I guess.
Adaptation of S. cerevisiae to Fermented Food Environments Reveals Remarkable Genome Plasticity and the Footprints of Domestication. Genetics linked to lifestyle differences.
Plant spectral diversity integrates functional and phylogenetic components of biodiversity and predicts ecosystem function. About 50% of variation in productivity in the Cedar Creek biodiversity experiment explained by spectral diversity.

May 27, 2018September 15, 2023

African crops in Suriname

If you liked a Brainfood item about African crops in Suriname, you’ll love this interview with Edith Adjako, a woman of Maroon descent, recorded by one of the authors, Tinde van Andel.

Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog

Posts

99% genebanks

Potato Congress comes home

How to help plants species get their mojo back

Brainfood: Cassava breeding, Teosinte gaps, Arabidopsis and CC, Urban pineapple, Minnesota apples, European CWR, Spiderplant review, British condiments, Yeast diversity, Diversity & productivity

African crops in Suriname