Good for Google. h/t Samantha. And if you want to see what you can do when you understand what Mendel did, visit Rebsie.
Europe calls for indicators shock
Regarding in situ and on-farm conservation, the EU requested the identification of indicators of diversity to establish and monitor changes in diversity at a national, regional and global level.
That’s from IISD’s report on day 2 of CGRFA 13. 1 I like to think it’s because they read our post.
How important is plant breeding?
IFPRI is currently conducting a project entitled “How to achieve food security in a world of growing scarcity: role of technology development strategies.” The goal is to assess the impact of a range of technologies on crop production and yields; production costs; soil and water quality; on-farm incomes; and the use of water, energy, and other resources.
The technologies include breeding, so go and vote!
The wonder of maize in images
Gastronomía Hispanica has a great set of photos on its Facebook page on the “miracle of maize.” 2 Here’s a totally inadequate teaser. Go and friend them.
Genetic erosion gets worse
We get hours of amusement from poking holes in the many ways in which statements about the loss of 75% of agricultural biodiversity are likely to be less than accurate any way you slice them. But here’s an entirely new wrinkle. A friend recently wrote asking for some moral support for a grant proposal, which included a forceful justificatory phrase to the effect that 75% of agricultural diversity has been lost since 1990. 3
I twitted him gently about this, something snitty to the effect of “interesting statistic, have you got a source for that?” And blow me down if he didn’t. Not just any old source either. A communication from the [European] Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, no less, entitled Our life insurance, our natural capital: an EU biodiversity strategy to 2020, aka COM(2011) 244 final.
And there it is, on page 1 of the Introduction.
[A]ccording to the FAO … 75% of the genetic diversity of agricultural crops has been lost worldwide since 1990.
I wonder where they got that figure? Not from FAO. The same year is present in at least one other language, so if it is a typo it entered the proceedings early. But honestly, did nobody find it just the least little bit odd? Then again, my friend didn’t either. I suppose we’re the odd ones.