Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog

December 17, 2012December 17, 2012

Help researchers get their priorities right

Would you like to influence the future direction of research on roots, tubers and bananas? Course you would. And now you can, thanks to a priority setting exercise being carried out by the CGIAR Research Program on Roots, Tubers and Bananas. The ProMusa website has the full details: researchers

are … looking beyond yields to estimate the impact on poverty, health, gender equity and environmental sustainability.

It starts with mapping to locate the places where “research has the greatest potential to alleviate poverty and increase food security”.

The top constraints in these target areas will then be matched with research options. The impact, over the next 20 years, of these research options will be assessed using different methods, depending on the indicator, and the findings will be used to guide research investment decisions.

So now you know, and you have no excuse.

If your interest is bananas and plantains, then head on over to the ProMusa page that will guide you to a survey in English, French and Spanish. For other crops – but inexplicably not bananas nor the “minor” roots and tubers – the RTB website is the place to go.

Anyone for taro?

December 12, 2012December 12, 2012

Going wild at Asilomar

Breeders and genomics researchers are meeting at the Asilomar Conference Grounds, Pacific Grove, California to discuss how genomics can facilitate the use of crop wild in crop improvement. Follow on Twitter using #cwrgenomics. The wild lupin in the photo is found on the sand dunes just outside the conference facilities. There’s also a smaller, rarer one, but I haven’t found it yet.

December 10, 2012December 7, 2012

Brainfood: Core collections, Romanian pigs, Commons, Valuation, Biofortification, Yam characterization, Pompeii diet, Rice grain genetics

Maximizing genetic differentiation in core collections by PCA-based clustering of molecular marker data. It works. In simulations, to be fair.
Study of rare traditional pork breeds concerning the aspect of biodiversity conservation. Mangalitsa is what you want, apparently.
Open Variety Rights: Rethinking the Commodification of Plants. A “protected commons”? Sounds a bit like the ITPGRFA to me.
Natural and cultural heritage in mountain landscapes: towards an integrated valuation. Yeah, but does your cultural heritage include things like agricultural biodiversity?
Fortifying plants with the essential amino acids lysine and methionine to improve nutritional quality. Conventional breeding hasn’t worked. But has it been for want of trying? Just askin’.
Genetic and phenotypic diversity in a germplasm working collection of cultivated tropical yams (Dioscorea spp.). Relationships among species, synonyms, duplicates, yada yada.
Roman food refuse: urban archaeobotany in Pompeii, Regio VI, Insula 1. Romans ate a Mediterranean diet. Still no cure for cancer.
Genetic bases of rice grain shape: so many genes, so little known. Why bother? Just askin’.

December 9, 2012December 9, 2012

Man-tall wheats

Weekly photo competition runner up, 16 November 2012: man-tall wheats, a photo by CIMMYT on Flickr.

Via CIMMYT’s Flickr page:
Bibiana Espinosa of the germplasm bank is one of two runners up this week in our photo competition for CIMMYT staff and friends, with this image showing very tall wheat being regenerated at Mexicali. Although keeping seeds at low temperatures extends their lives, the bank must sow and reharvest all of its thousands of incredibly diverse samples periodically to make sure the seeds remain viable. Says Bibiana: “It was amazing to see wheat plants taller than Tom Payne!”

Photo credit: B. Espinosa/CIMMYT.

December 7, 2012December 8, 2012

Given to us this day

It will be a challenge and far more than a technical task to translate the book from Neo-Norwegian into English language, but we can hope that this will be done soon so many more readers can be inspired by the cultural dimensions of cereals and their diversity.

Axel Diederichsen’s wish at the end of his review last summer of Prof. Åsmund Bjørnstad’s magisterial Vårt Daglege Brød — Kornets Kulturhistorie has come true. Our Daily Bread — A History of the Cereals is out in English. And many more readers will indeed now be inspired.

LATER: And it’s on Amazon!