Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog

October 24, 2011

Sweet potato photo

I spoke too soon about that Smithsonian article on the potato.

In 2008 a Lebanese farmer dug up a potato that weighed nearly 25 pounds. It was bigger than his head.

It was indeed bigger than his head, and nearly 25 pounds in weight, but it looks like Ipomoea batatas to me. Why is it that people think any crop that grows below ground must be Solanum tuberosum? Even when it’s a sweet potato or an oca.

October 24, 2011October 24, 2011

Sago going

Seriorl Anzu has a great video of sago preparation in the Southern Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea. Which reminded me about this summary from PestNet of the dire situation of sago in Bouganville, where “all the sago palms have died in the highlands.” There are no collections of Metroxylon sagu known to WIEWS.

October 24, 2011October 19, 2011

Brainfood: Football nutrition, Sorghum markers, Alpine herb, Gap analysis, Evolutionary breeding, Aphids, Birds and farmland, Cameroon forests

Nutrition and culture in professional football: A mixed method approach. Footballers need a more diverse diet. Well, kinda. I just wanted to get this paper in here because wouldn’t it be cool if we could get Lionel Messi to talk about agrobiodiversity-rich diets?
Diversity analysis using ISSR markers for resistance to shoot pests in sorghum. There may be a diversity of resistance mechanisms.
Domestication of Alpine blue-sow-thistle (Cicerbita alpina (L.) Wallr.): six year trial results. I know. Why would you want to, right? Takes all sorts to make a diverse diet, I guess. Maybe we can get Lionel Messi to eat it?
Improving representativeness of genebank collections through species distribution models, gap analysis and ecogeographical maps. Fancy GIS-based prioritization results in more, better germplasm collecting. Nice to have the data.
Evolutionary Plant Breeding in Cereals—Into a New Era. Martin Wolfe and colleagues lay it on the line; why it is a good idea, and what the obstacles are.
Genetic interactions influence host preference and performance in a plant-insect system. Aphids and barleys have genetic preferences for one another.
Pasture area and landscape heterogeneity are key determinants of bird diversity in intensively managed farmland. As in the northern hemisphere, so too in Argentina.
Tree diversity and conservation value of Ngovayang’s lowland forests, Cameroon. Both high, and I’m betting some economically important trees are among them.

October 21, 2011

The Smithsonian serves spuds

Charles Mann of 1491 and 1493 fame takes on the potato in the Smithsonian Magazine. So far as I can tell, all of the photographs are indeed of potatoes. It is kind of fun that one of the people who contributed to the amassing of the thousands of varieties in the germplasm collection maintained on behalf of the world by the International Potato Center has commented on CIP’s link to the article on Facebook.

October 21, 2011October 21, 2011

Flooding out genetic resources in Thailand

More bad news from Thailand. After the worst floods in 50 years, the Chai Nat Research Centre has been under water for the past couple of months. That’s where a lot of the germplasm multiplication and regeneration work is done. In fact, it seems there were newly harvested seeds ready for storage when the floods came. Should any seeds make it to the national genebank at Pathum Thani near Bangkok, however, they would not be all that safe either. The area is under threat as the floodwaters makes their way south. That’s why the recommendation is for safety duplication of all accessions, preferably on another continent. And of course at Svalbard. Stay tuned for news as we get it. And very best of luck to all at the genebank.