GCP mounts a full frontal info-attack

CGIAR’s Generation Challenge Programme is mounting a reasonably effective information blitzkrieg, and chickpeas are the shock troops, with blog posts and videos their weapons of choice. A minor triumph is in the offing on the social networking front. But I have to say I think the RSS feeds are a bit of a rout. The main site has way too many. Yet the blogs over at GCP’s main online product, the otherwise quite impressive Integrated Breeding Platform, don’t have any at all, though the discussion forums (and what exactly is the difference?) do. Time to re-think the whole RSS strategy.

Submissions open for ArcaDeli Award 2012

The Arca-Deli Awards are presented annually (starting 2011) to products and services of locally adapted livestock breeds and cultivated plants. The award is presented to products and services seen as being recommendable as a model or example of good practice. The Arca-Deli Award label can then be used on labelling of products and services as a means of adding value.

How to improve nutrition

Bob Ziegler, DG of IRRI, explains why the world needs biofortified staples:

Take the example of rice, the staple food for more than half of the world’s population – including more than half a billion of the world’s poorest in Asia. These people often eat rice and little else. While rice is an excellent food, it does not have all the vitamins and minerals a person needs – so many of these people don‘t get enough essential nutrients like iron, zinc, and vitamin A.

A diverse and nutritious diet is the best option, sadly however, this is often too expensive or simply unavailable.

Simple, eh?