Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog
Agrobiodiversity is crops, livestock, foodways, microbes, pollinators, wild relatives …
A funny thing happened to Dave Arnold on his globe-trotting effort to sample the apples of the world: he got waylaid by the pears. What happened next is the subject of a truly wonderful blog post that highlights his enthusiasm and ability to convey subtleties of the eating experience. Not bad for a chap who …
Over at Vaviblog, Jeremy has a post explaining why Pavlovsk is not unique. Alas, it’s because it’s by no means the only genebank that’s in trouble. Wellesbourne and Brogdale, the UK’s national collections of vegetable and fruit diversity, have both been through the wringer lately. On October 1 Wellesbourne and the Genetic Resources Unit were …
Prospect, a “union for professionals” in the UK reports that the University of Warwick plans to close HRI Wellesbourne, home of a Genetic Resources Unit that is effectively the vegetable genebank for the UK. None of the reports I’ve seen mentions the genebank specifically, and it is only one aspect of HRI’s activities that will …
Liguria’s asparago violetto gets Slow Food treatment. “The bottom line is we just don’t know why they are struggling so badly.” Using mobile phones to treat plant pests and diseases in Uganda. Dingoes have positive effect on biodiversity. Date palm genome mapped. Boffins see the light, explain negative effect of fertilizers on biodiversity. Brogdale situation …
Continue reading “Nibbles: Asparagus, Eels, ICT, Dingoes, Phoenix dactylifera, Apples, Bear-pit”
Wild relatives and field genebanks of apples have helped to answer a long-standing puzzle: why do leaves turn red in autumn.