Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog

July 5, 2017July 5, 2017

ILRI looking for a forages genebank manager

The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) seeks to recruit a dynamic Forage Scientist with a keen interest in genetic resources, to head the genebank at ILRI and to manage the composition of tropical and sub-tropical forage collections both at ILRI and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT). This is a joint ILRI/CIAT position that will be based at the ILRI campus in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The thinking behind that “joint position” thing is explained in the global forages strategy.

July 4, 2017July 4, 2017

A roundabout way of learning about caroselli

Another despatch just in from our correspondent in Puglia, last seen checking out the olive plague. This time she sends us pictures of something called “cumazzi,” which is a new one on me.

They are not cucumbers exactly. Easy to digest and sweeter than cucumbers. Really crunchy and refreshing.

It turns out they are the immature fruits of a vegetable race of the melon, Cucumis melo, probably in the “adzhur group.” They go by a long list of names, but they seem to be restricted to Puglia (the heel of Italy), where they come in all shapes and sizes.

‘Carosello’ and ‘Barattiere’: Italian landraces of Cucumis melo whose fruits are eaten unripe. By Angelo Signore (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 or GFDL], via Wikimedia Commons

July 3, 2017July 3, 2017

Brainfood: Taste breeding, Cat domestication, ITPGRFA in USA, CWR extravaganza, Ecology & ag, Brassica identification, Biodiversity monitoring, Languages, Species recovery, Benin pigeonpea

Sensory sacrifices when we mass-produce mass produce. You need consumer-assisted selection.
The palaeogenetics of cat dispersal in the ancient world. Two Middle-Eastern sub-populations of one sub-species contributed to domestication, at different times, and the result spread first with agriculture and then aboard ships. But we haven’t changed them in the same way we’ve changed dogs etc. You don’t say.
U.S. ratification of Plant Treaty: benefit sharing ambiguity for plant genomics researchers does not change. But what about genomics data?
Wading Into the Gene Pool: Progress and Constraints Using Wild Species. Introduction to the Special Section on CWR.
Plant ecological solutions to global food security. Introduction to the Special Feature on Ecological Solutions to Global Food Security. The intersection with the above is probably here.
A multiplex PCR for rapid identification of Brassica species in the triangle of U. Now there’s no excuse.
Connecting Earth observation to high-throughput biodiversity data. I don’t see any reason why the same thinking couldn’t be applied to crop diversity.
Linguistic diversity of natural UNESCO world heritage sites: bridging the gap between nature and culture. 80% of Natural WHSs intersect at least one indigenous language.
Overcoming barriers to active interventions for genetic diversity. Embrace the hybrid by focusing on process, not form.
Utilization and farmers’ knowledge on pigeonpea diversity in Benin, West Africa. For some reason, farmers don’t like coloured seeds.

June 30, 2017June 30, 2017

Arise, Sir Daniel

From the Facebook page of the Crop Trust:

Our friends at CIAT inform us that yesterday Daniel Debouck received the Order of Leopold for his 40 years of service to the scientific community. Named in honour of King Leopold I, and awarded by Royal order, this is the highest order of Belgium. We congratulate Daniel, who’s one of the tireless scientists at the front lines of agro-biodiversity conservation. As head of the Genetic Resources Unit at CIAT, he’s made sure the world’s largest bean, cassava and forages collections are safe and available for plant breeders, researcher and farmers to use.

Since its inception, CIAT’s genebank has distributed more than half a million samples from 141 countries to requesters in more than 160 countries. Find out more here.

Well done, Daniel! Great to see the work of another genetic resources scientist being recognized.

Read more about Daniel’s work on a recent CIAT blog post, “On the trail of ancient treasure in Peru.”

June 30, 2017June 30, 2017

Seed saving in Tanzania in the spotlight

An article in Mint Press News suggests that a new law in Tanzania will not only give foreign investors “faster and easier access to agricultural land in the African nation, as well as strong protections for ‘intellectual property rights,’ e.g., seed patenting,” but also forbid seed saving and exchange.

In addition, seeds that are not patented – i.e., all seeds traditionally used by Tanzanian farmers – are now forbidden from being sold or even given to friends or family, threatening the centuries-old tradition of seed exchanges that have kept costs down for farmers. Michael Farrelly of the Tanzania Organic Agriculture Movement (TOAM) told Mondiaal Nieuws that “Eighty percent of the seeds are being shared and sold in an informal system between neighbors, friends and family. The new law criminalizes the practice in Tanzania.”

All in return for aid, allegedly. The Seed Treaty is brought in as a last line of defence:

However, the new laws themselves are likely illegal under international law, as Article 9 of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA), also known as the “Seed Treaty,” states that no law should “limit any rights that farmers have to save, use, exchange and sell farm-saved seed/propagating material.” But affected Tanzanian farmers will likely be unable to make a viable court case against the new legislation due to their limited economic resources.

It’s worth quoting Article 9 in full:

Article 9 – Farmers’ Rights

9.1 The Contracting Parties recognize the enormous contribution that the local and indigenous communities and farmers of all regions of the world, particularly those in the centres of origin and crop diversity, have made and will continue to make for the conservation and development of plant genetic resources which constitute the basis of food and agriculture production throughout the world.

9.2 The Contracting Parties agree that the responsibility for realizing Farmers’ Rights, as they relate to plant genetic resources for food and agriculture, rests with national governments. In accordance with their needs and priorities, each Contracting Party should, as appropriate, and subject to its national legislation, take measures to protect and promote Farmers’ Rights, including:

a) protection of traditional knowledge relevant to plant genetic resources for food and agriculture;

b) the right to equitably participate in sharing benefits arising from the utilization of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture; and

c) the right to participate in making decisions, at the national level, on matters related to the conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture.

9.3 Nothing in this Article shall be interpreted to limit any rights that farmers have to save, use, exchange and sell farm-saved seed/propagating material, subject to national law and as appropriate.

So that’s not quite the same as what the Mint Press News piece said, as I read it. It’s not that no law should “limit any rights that farmers have to save, use, exchange and sell farm-saved seed/propagating material.” It’s that nothing in Article 9 should be interpreted as so doing. The Treaty recognizes the pivotal importance of Farmers’ Rights, including to seed saving and exchange, but leaves it to national government to figure out how to realize them.