- Vinecology: pairing wine with nature. You can have wine, and drink it too.
- The role of wild vegetable species in household food security in maize based subsistence cropping systems. Is very significant, in South Africa.
- Does land abandonment decrease species richness and abundance of plants and animals in Mediterranean pastures, arable lands and permanent croplands? Well, we wont know until these guys do their review, as described here. What a weird paper.
- Development of a core collection of Triticum and Aegilops species for improvement of wheat for activity against chronic diseases. Used GRIN to select material from areas varying in cancer prevalence.
- Patterns of Genetic Variation across Altitude in Three Plant Species of Semi-Dry Grasslands. Populations on the edge altitudinally are not on the edge genetically.
- Is community persistence related to diversity? A test with prairie species in a long-term experiment. Yes. If by persistence you mean that the community resists invasion better after you stop weeding it.
- Agricultural intensification in Brazil and its effects on land use patterns: An analysis of the 1975-2006 period. Intensification leads to decreased expansion only where land is scarce, i.e. NOT at the frontier.
- Long-term Changes in Fruit Phenology in a West African Lowland Tropical Rain Forest are Not Explained by Rainfall. I don’t get it. Maybe someone can explain it to me.
- Differences in gene expression within a striking phenotypic mosaic Eucalyptus tree that varies in susceptibility to herbivory. One tree, 2 chemotypes, many genes differentially expressed, 10 SNPs that could affect secondary metabolism.
Caledonian Tomato!??!?
Today’s agricultural biodiversity mystery:
OK, so I know the quality’s not up to snuff, but I just grabbed this image in my local bar. And I have questions. What on earth is a caledonian tomato? Helpfully, the Italian below offers pomodoro and sapori di Scozia. But could some Italian, preferably, explain to me why Caledonia and the taste of Scotland might have great marketing appeal.
Simply awesome vegetable poster
Worth way more than a nibble, which is why it is out here. Run, don’t walk, to Popchartlab’s poster which is:
The most extensive mapping of vegetables ever! We have lovingly illustrated and charted over 400 crops, from Root Vegetables like Potatoes and the Prairie Turnip to lesser-known verified veggies like Courgette Flowers and the Ghostbuster Eggplant to the very many vegetables which are, botanically speaking, actually fruits.
Now, how do we persuade them to go global?
I’ve got your key right here
You just know it’s going to be that sort of day when you see articles appearing in your RSS feed within minutes of each other saying first that no-till farming and then sustainable tuna hold the key to global food security. Whatever next, I wonder. Quinoa? No, wait…
#goodread: Quinoa – How an ancient crop can contribute to world food security http://t.co/z2Etbr33 #IYQ13
— Quinua FAO (@aiq2013) February 20, 2013
Bolivia's Evo Morales & @UN @secgen launching 2013 as Int'l Year of Quinoa @FAOnews http://t.co/1YcZ2PfZ #iyq13 pic.twitter.com/dZ2GNWfx
— Eduardo Milton (@jet_milton) February 20, 2013
United colours of Quinoa
Excitement here is mounting as we wait for the UN officially to open the International Year of Quinoa in New York at 10 am EST, in just half an hour. To calm down, I had a quick look at FAO’s own paean to quinoa. Coming fresh to the subject, you could be forgiven for wondering what all the fuss is about.
Jolly farmers ploughing behind stolid oxen, gene-bankers in the cold, scientists in white coats, smiling multicoloured children, uplifting royalty-free music. What’s not to like?
Well, those jolly ploughmen; where are the tractors and disc harrows that other people say are ruining the soil? The gene-bankers, with their 3000 varieties; are they freely available to researchers and safely duplicated elsewhere? The scientists, finding new uses for quinoa byproducts; could that have unintended consequences? And the smiling children; no sign of malnutrition there, are you sure?
Many questions; and there are answers out there. But to do justice to them will take time.
We have all year.