Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog

December 10, 2021

The poetry of genebanks

This is definitely a new one for me. A genebanker and a poet have collaborated, and the result is Parchment Scalpel Rock: What’s Up, Doc?, a digital exhibition from Coventry Creates. Here’s a taste:

…genebanks are magicians’ hats from which all researchers
can magic the whole genepool’s variation when they need…

The genebanker is Charlotte Allender of the UK Vegetable Genebank:

I have never worked with a poet so I was excited to be paired with George and we had some really enjoyable discussions about carrots and the various drivers which underpin the current production systems which supply UK supermarkets. I was fascinated by George’s approach, where I had some input into the curation of his verse and the selection of pairs of lines for the final booklet.

And the poet is George Ttoouli:

Bringing Charlotte in to help me edit and curate the lines felt necessary, collaborative. I’m interested in decentering authorship, my own and that of others, through processes. With a little more time, I would have loved to devise a project to allow the rabbits (and hares) at Charlotte’s research centre to curate their own sequence of the poems I produced.

See what you think, and provide feedback on the Coventry Creates website.

December 8, 2021December 9, 2021

Agricultural biodiversity and conflict

The papers that compose this issue evidence how an integrative approach is not only analytically beneficial but also necessary for research supporting the sustainable resolution of conflict, the related conservation of agrobiodiversity and equitable human-environment relations.

Gabriel Tamariz and Megan Baumann have co-organized and co-edited a special issue of Geoforum on “Agrobiodiversity Change in Conflict and Post-Conflict Landscapes.” I’m hoping I won’t get into trouble for sharing this table which gives an idea of what’s in it.

December 6, 2021December 6, 2021

Brainfood: Genetic diversity, Pointy maize, Diversification, Hybrid yeast, African yam bean, Urbanization, Wild tomato ecogeography, Wild banana seeds, Seed systems, Phytosanitary, Rematriation, Cowpea development, ABS

The crucial role of genome-wide genetic variation in conservation. Don’t fetishise functional variation.
The Ancient Varieties of Mountain Maize: The Inheritance of the Pointed Character and Its Effect on the Natural Drying Process. Case in point?
Diversification for enhanced food systems resilience. Do fetishise diversification.
Restoring fertility in yeast hybrids: Breeding and quantitative genetics of beneficial traits. Well, that’s one way to diversify. Mules next?
Predictive genotype-phenotype relations using genetic diversity in African yam bean (Sphenostylis stenocarpa (Hochst. ex. A. Rich) Harms). From 93 IITA accessions to a handful of good ones for the fetishes of seed and/or tuber yield.
Genetic resources management, seed production constraints and trade performance of orphan crops in Southern Africa: A case of Cowpea. Could maybe fetishise cowpea a little more?
Urbanization and agrobiodiversity: Leveraging a key nexus for sustainable development. What’s the opposite of fetishising? Demonising? Ok, don’t demonise urbanisation then. Gosh I hope I’m using these words correctly…
Edaphoclimatic Descriptors of Wild Tomato Species (Solanum Sect. Lycopersicon) and Closely Related Species (Solanum Sect. Juglandifolia and Sect. Lycopersicoides) in South America. We may be in danger of fetishising ecogeography.
Banana seed genetic resources for food security: Status, constraints, and future priorities. Half of banana wild relatives are not in genebanks at all. Not that we want to fetishise crop wild relatives, but that seems a lot.
Regulating Seeds—A Challenging Task. How do we avoid fetishising neither formal nor informal seed systems?
The phytosanitary risks posed by seeds for sowing trade networks. The case for robust phytosanitary measures in global forage seed trade networks. No need to fetishise them though.
The value of agrobiodiversity: an analysis of consumers preference for tomatoes. Consumers fetishise heirloom tomatoes to the tune of an additional €0.90 per kilo.
Dynamic guardianship of potato landraces by Andean communities and the genebank of the International Potato Center. Communities don’t fetishise rematriated landraces, but that doesn’t matter.
Facing the Harsh Reality of Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) Legislation. The dangers of fetishising ABS. Or is it demonising?

November 29, 2021December 16, 2021

Brainfood: IK, CWR, AnGR valuation double, Open cryo hardware, Seed pathogens, Perennial grains, Tropical forages, Tree breeding, Resurrection, Arabica origins, Fragaria, CIP sweetpotato

Contributions of Indigenous Knowledge to ecological and evolutionary understanding. The importance of IK is considerable for PGRFA conservation and use too, of course, and the injunction to “enter into a thoughtful social contract with IK holders, foremost working toward partnered research that benefits the communities, governments, and nations of Indigenous peoples” goes double.
Harnessing Crop Wild Diversity for Climate Change Adaptation.. …needs open data. Genomic data, that is, rather than IK. I wonder if there’s quid pro quo here.
Genetic Identity, Diversity, and Population Structure of CIP’s Sweetpotato (I. batatas) Germplasm Collection. An entire collection of about 6000 accessions genotyped to reveal 4 ancestral populations, some duplication within and between genebanks, plus possible mistakes in labelling. Ah, data!
Information use and its effects on the valuation of agricultural genetic resources. Giving the public more data may increase the support for animal genetic resources conservation. But what kind of data? Read on…
Consumers’ knowledge and perceptions of endangered livestock breeds: How wording influences conservation efforts. Focus on the nice taste rather than the rarity or endangerment of breeds, as it turns out. Accentuate the positive?
The emerging role of open technologies for community-based improvement of cryopreservation and quality management for repository development in aquatic species. Hardware can be open too.
Longevity of Plant Pathogens in Dry Agricultural Seeds during 30 Years of Storage. Clean your seeds, genebanks.
Sustainable agriculture through perennial grains: Wheat, rice, maize, and other species. A review. Promises, promises…
Tapping Into the Environmental Co-benefits of Improved Tropical Forages for an Agroecological Transformation of Livestock Production Systems. Location, location, location.
‘Systems approach’ plant breeding illustrated by trees. Link up different plant breeding approaches in fun ways rather than doubling down on any single one.
A pragmatic and prudent consensus on the resurrection of extinct plant species using herbarium specimens. I must say I would not have been so prudent.
Validating South Sudan as a Center of Origin for Coffea arabica: Implications for Conservation and Coffee Crop Improvement. No time for prudence here.
Diversification, spread, and admixture of octoploid strawberry in the Western Hemisphere. Yes, that’s all very interesting, but tell me more about that Hawaiian strawberry.

November 23, 2021November 23, 2021

Full access to the full Access to Seeds Index

We’ve blogged about it before, but the 2021 Access to Seeds Index is now fully out, following the 2019 and 2016 indexes. ((Full disclosure: I’m on the Expert Review Committee.))

On September 21, alongside the UN Food systems summit, we launched the first regional results of 32 companies in Western and Central Africa. Then, on October 15, we launched the results of 32 companies in Eastern and Southern Africa, which coincided with the 2021 World Food Day celebration. Finally, on November 22, we launched the results of 31 companies in South and South-East Asia at the Asia Pacific Seed Association’s technical session.

Remember why this is important.

Smallholder farmers are the main food producers in lower-income countries, and their access to good quality seeds of improved varieties is essential for ensuring that people in these regions have sufficient, safe, and nutritious food. Ultimately, the index evaluates seed companies’ contributions to achieving Sustainable Development Goal 2: Zero Hunger. Seed companies play a key role in ensuring this access.

The main take-aways?

Presence: Seed companies are active in almost all index countries across Sub-Saharan Africa and South and South-East Asia but can extend their reach to remote areas.

Crop diversification: Many companies are providing more diverse portfolios for vegetables and field crops but need to offer more pulses to help tackle malnutrition

Extension services: Companies are offering extension services in more countries than in 2019 and leveraged ICT tools to reach smallholder farmers as an impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on traditional field training.

Local seed sector development: Companies are still only concentrating their investments in developing local seed sectors such as seed production, breeding programs and processing in a few countries. This approach leaves behind many smallholders in many countries who can benefit from a developed local seed sector. Therefore, it’s crucial for the seed industry to collaborate with research institutes, investors, civil society, and governments in industry growth in more countries to strengthen capabilities and means to reach more farmers in all regions.

Lots of data to dig into. And comments always welcome.