Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog

March 11, 2014

Seed film seeks viewers

So there’s yet another movie about the story of seeds. I think we’ve talked a bit before about Open Sesame the Story of Seeds but frankly it is hard to be sure. Anyway, this latest effort is ready for its close-up, with a new (to me) system for release. And I quote:

Here’s how it works:

Individuals request the film.

When enough people in a given community buy tickets – the film screens at their local theater.

Otherwise no credit cards are charged and the request is cancelled.

Obviously this is a super-parochial US-only thing, but being good citizens of the world, we won’t hold that against it.

Any if you and a bunch of like-minded people in your given community actually get to see it, why not write a review for us?

March 10, 2014March 10, 2014

Crop Trust speaks

Ready for your close-up?

March 10, 2014March 23, 2014

Brainfood: Sturgeon semen, Wheat biofortification, Wild barley future, Pest numbers, Wild potatoes, Mishan pig drift, Microbial models, Paspalum genomics, Chinese peanuts

Improvement in wild endangered Persian sturgeon, Acipenser persicus (Borodin, 1897) semen cryopreservation by 2-hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin (HβCD). Hey, stop sniggering, it’s good to know there’s an ex situ option.
Biofortification of wheat grain with iron and zinc: integrating novel genomic resources and knowledge from model crops. Your jetpack is here, sir.
Genetic Diversity and Ecological Niche Modelling of Wild Barley: Refugia, Large-Scale Post-LGM Range Expansion and Limited Mid-Future Climate Threats? As ever, the answer is yes.
Economic and physical determinants of the global distributions of crop pests and pathogens. More crops, more pests, but not as many as there would be if more money were available for observation.
Wild potato species (Solanum section Petota Solanaceae) in the Tunari National Park, Andean Region of Cochabamba, Bolivia. Four species, but not very morphologically variable.
Impact of Genetic Drift on Access and Benefit Sharing Under the Nagoya Protocol: The Case of the Meishan Pig. Current Meishan pigs in the US have become differentiated from the ones originally imported from China in the 1980s.
Investment into the future of microbial resources: culture collection funding models and BRC business plans for biological resource centres. Services must include capacity building and the promotion of links to research collections and users. That can’t be done on basis of full cost recovery from sales. Will need a combination of government, commercial and project support. Can crop collections learn anything from this?
Gene Discovery and Molecular Marker Development, Based on High-Throughput Transcript Sequencing of Paspalum dilatatum Poir. Important forage grown in apomictic monoculture now has genomic resources that should allow better breeding. And perhaps some diversification.
Genetic Diversity and Population Structure of the Major Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) Cultivars Grown in China by SSR Markers. The northern cultivars are different to the southern.

March 9, 2014

Grapes or rootstocks

Grapes

One item of agricultural biodiversity interest from my visit to Bologna last weekend, this rather charming 1926 poster. ¹ It offers, as you can see, American vines. And here’s my question: varieties, or Phylloxera-resistant rootstocks?

March 6, 2014March 7, 2014

Livestock are how much?

I just think you should see this, from my favourite comic on the web.