Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog

May 1, 2012May 1, 2012

Berry Go Round hits 50

While everyone else in the civilised world enjoys a May Day off, we’re still here, toiling to bring you the best of the interwebs. Today, that includes the 50th edition of Berry go Round, the carnival of botany blogging. Fittingly (and this wasn’t planned) the host this month is Laurent at Seeds Aside, who began the whole thing way back, er, 50 editions ago. Head over there for links to a great selection of words and images about all manner of botanical subjects.

Before you go, however, consider hosting an edition of Berry go Round yourself. It’s actually quite rewarding, in its own way. All months’s from July are open. And of course submissions for May are welcome at any time.

April 30, 2012

Indian animal genetic resources institute sets its priorities

While looking for something else ¹ I came across the news on the website of India’s National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources (NBAGR) that the genome of the water buffalo has been sequenced. I also found out that you can buy attractive calendars featuring native breeds such as the one you see here. And that NBAGR has a catchy song. Alas, the Information System on Animal Genetic Resources of India does not seem to work.

April 30, 2012April 30, 2012

Featured: Organic breeding

On the lack of varieties selected to perform well under organic agriculture, David Tribe (aka GMO Pundit) asks:

Why not use the seed industry varieties already on the market? There plenty of money invested there. Why do you need to reinvent the wheel?

He clearly has other things on his mind.

April 30, 2012April 30, 2012

Brainfood: Alfalfa, Date palm, Apricot, Collecting, Reintroduction, Ribes, Payments

Assessment of genetic diversity among alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) genotypes by morphometry, seed storage proteins and RAPD analysis. Morphology fits with geography, the others don’t.
Insights into the historical biogeography of the date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) using geometric morphometry of modern and ancient seeds. Analysis of seed outlines using fancy maths identifies centres of diversity and migration routes.
Loss of genetic diversity as a signature of apricot domestication and diffusion into the Mediterranean Basin. Or you could use microsatellites. Result: an Irano-Caucasian centre of domestication and two migration routes, N and S of the Mediterranean.
Big hitting collectors make massive and disproportionate contribution to the discovery of plant species. Therefore, fund a small number of expert collectors in the right places. Luigi stands ready.
Success Rates for Reintroductions of Eight Perennial Plant Species after 15 Years. Are pretty pathetic. Makes you wonder if all that collecting is worth it.
Conservation of endemic insular plants: the genus Ribes L. (Grossulariaceae) in Sardinia. Seems rather a fuss for 1 species and 1 subspecies, crop wild relatives or not.
Indicator-based agri-environmental payments: A payment-by-result model for public goods with a Swedish application. Hang on a minute, why is crop diversity not there?

April 28, 2012April 28, 2012

Featured: Organic seed

In reference to the organic meta-analysis, Matthew asks:

What about crop genetics?? I read the actual Nature piece and no mention of seed or breeding.
Organic vs Conventional studies are often flawed in that they ignore that most organic farmers are using seed bred for conventional systems … The first axiom of breeding is to breed in area of intended use, and organic environments are quite different than conventional. Research from Washington State University shows evidence that when organic farmers used wheat seed that had been selected in organic systems for multiple generations there is as much as 20% increase in wheat yields, compared to when they plant conventional seed.

I think this is the research referred to.