Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog
Agrobiodiversity is crops, livestock, foodways, microbes, pollinators, wild relatives …
Let us assume, for the sake of argument, that one crop variety does disappear every single day. The question still remains: does it matter? After all, the variety that was just lost yesterday might be very similar to one that’s still out there today. That’s part of the reason why a group of French researchers …
Continue reading “The how and why of indicators of agricultural biodiversity”
Grass pea (Lathyrus sativus L.) is an important crop in Ethiopia. Its vital importance in the Ethiopian agriculture emanates from its resistance to drought, salinity, waterlogging and low soil fertility. However, low levels of the amino acids methionine and tryptophan and the presence of the neurotoxin β-N-oxalyl-L-α,β-diaminopropanoic acid (ODAP) in the seeds are the major …
This just in from our friend, colleague and occasional subject Hannes Dempewolf. Our thanks to him and all the others that contributed to the discussion on quinoa he initiated. The New York Times just published an article, entitled “Quinoa’s Global Success Creates Quandary at Home”. The article reminded me of a case study that Damiana …
There’s no doubt that most of the time when we non-experts think of genetic diversity in DNA terms, we think about alterations in the actual DNA sequence. Change the genetic code and there’s a chance you change the nature of a gene and as a result change the outward appearance, the phenotype, of an organism. …
Continue reading “Insights into watermelon genetic diversity”
The recent post on fermentation clearly struck a chord with our friend and colleague Bhuwon Sthapit of Bioversity International. Here’s his contribution to the discussion. It is interesting to note the myriad different ways in which locally available cereals and other sources of food are fermented by local people through the action of microorganisms, either …