The veritable comms machine that is Bioversity International has been stuck in high gear of late. There’s a fancy shmancy new infographic on agrobiodiversity, reproduced here without permission (let them sue me). And also a photo competition on Women and Agricultural Biodiversity, which is also a nice idea. Maybe I’ll even submit something.
Ruralium commodorum
Medievalists.net has a great article today on the yearly cycle of farming activities, as illustrated in a 15th century manuscript. It reminded me that I really ought to link to FAO’s crop calendar database one of these days.
Gotta have a villain
Disturbing follow-up to the story of the devastating olive disease in southern Italy: now some of the researchers involved in fighting the epidemic are being blamed for it.
Cary Fowler to advise USAID
Congratulations to Cary Fowler for his nomination by President Obama to the Board for International Food and Agricultural Development.
The Board for International Food and Agricultural Development (BIFAD) advises USAID on agriculture and higher education issues pertinent to food insecurity in developing countries. The President appoints members, who primarily represent the academic community.
Making the announcement of this and a number of other appointments to key administration posts, President Obama said:
These individuals have demonstrated knowledge and dedication throughout their careers. I am grateful they have chosen to take on these important roles, and I look forward to working with them.
Brainfood: Indian germplasm, Fancy cores, African veggies, Aquaculture, Characterization, Nature and ag policies, European rewilding
- Indian plant germplasm on the global platter: an analysis. There’s a lot of it out there. But there could be more. And the total number of accessions in Genesys is mis-quoted by an order of magnitude. The message obviously resonates back home, though.
- Signal-processing tools for core-collection selection from genetic-resource collections. Fancy maths lets you combine data types to make better core collections.
- Impact of nutritional perceptions of traditional African vegetables on farm household production decisions: A case study of smallholders in Tanzania. People grow them because they think they’re nutritious.
- Can the Global Adoption of Genetically Improved Farmed Fish Increase Beyond 10%, and How? Through more public breeding, training and benefit-sharing. Well that sounds familiar.
- Phenotypic or Molecular Diversity Screening for Conservation of Genetic Resources? An Example from a Genebank Collection of the Temperate Forage Grass Timothy. Both.
- The alignment of agricultural and nature conservation policies in the European Union. It “remains a challenge.” Which means there isn’t any.
- Mapping opportunities and challenges for rewilding in Europe. Yeah, but see above.