Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog

March 17, 2021

Seed sector lays it out

So seed companies have come up with a “Seed Sector Declaration” as a part of their engagement with the UN Food Systems Summit in September 2021.

Among other things, they commit to

CONTINUE our support for the conservation of genetic resources and biodiversity

while asking their partners to

SUPPORT seed sector use of genetic resources, essential to new seed varieties, by supporting improvements to the work of bodies, such as the ITPGRFA and CBD

Can’t help thinking we’ve heard this sort of thing before.

March 15, 2021March 12, 2021

Brainfood: Green Revolution, Hybrid wheat, Pacific PGRFA, Temperate maize, Maize seed, Yemeni coffee, Nutrition agriculture, Vanilla breeding, Cultivar mixture, Meta-analysis, Algerian forages

Health Impacts of the Green Revolution: Evidence from 600,000 births across the Developing World. Modern varieties reduced infant mortality from 18% to 12-15% across 21,604 locations in 37 developing countries between 1961–2000.
Wide adaptation of Green Revolution wheat: International roots and the Indian context of a new plant breeding ideal, 1960–1970. Thank goodness for photoperiod insensitivity, eh?
The genetic basis of cytoplasmic male sterility and fertility restoration in wheat. Does this mean hybrid wheat is the next revolution?
Unlocking the inherent potential of plant genetic resources: food security and climate adaptation strategy in Fiji and the Pacific. The Pacific is still waiting for its revolution.
A worldwide maize panel revealed new genetic variation for cold tolerance. Inbreds from Minnesota and Spain could spearhead a temperate maize revolution.
Seed longevity of maize conserved under germplasm bank conditions for up to 60 years. Keep those Minnesotan and Spanish inbreds cold, whatever you do.
Unveiling a unique genetic diversity of cultivated Coffea arabica L. in its main domestication center: Yemen. Unique Yemeni material could spearhead a coffee revolution. How to store those seeds, though?
Household behaviour and nutrition-sensitive agricultural practices: Experiences of smallholder farmers in Northern West Bengal, India. Maybe what’s needed is a revolution in women’s empowerment.
The beautiful hills: half a century of vanilla (Vanilla planifolia Jacks. ex Andrews) breeding in Madagascar. There was a vanilla revolution in Madagascar in the 50s and nobody knows about it.
The potential of cultivar mixtures to reduce fungicide input and mitigate fungicide resistance development. The cultivar mixture revolution is still to come.
Dynamic meta-analysis: a method of using global evidence for local decision making. The tender green shoots of a data-driven revolution?
Molecular characterization of Algerian populations of cocksfoot and tall fescue: Ploidy level determination and genetic diversity analysis. I just like the word cocksfoot.

March 12, 2021March 12, 2021

What crop should I grow to get rich?

I’m sure we’ve blogged about this visualization before, but I can’t for the life of me find it. So here it is again, thanks to someone reupping it on Twitter.

March 12, 2021

The journals Molecular Ecology and Molecular Ecology Resources are revising their Data Accessibility Statements to address the requirements of the Nagoya Protocol. It will now be called the Data Accessibility and Benefit‐Sharing Statement and will include this addition:

Molecular Ecology and Molecular Ecology Resources require, as a condition for publication, that the research described in the publication complies with relevant national laws implementing the Convention on Biological Diversity and Nagoya Protocol agreements. Authors will be required to make an affirmative statement during the submission process as to compliance with national laws, if applicable.

Molecular Ecology and Molecular Ecology Resources also encourage authors to disclose benefits generated commensurate with the Nagoya Protocol. Further information on the scope of benefits recognized under the Nagoya Protocol, see the link to the Nagoya Protocol Annex at https://www.cbd.int/abs/text/articles/?sec=abs‐37.

It’s all explained here. Next, let’s see all journals require DOIs for all genebank material used in published work.

March 8, 2021March 4, 2021

Brainfood: Post 2020 indicators double, Protected areas, Infraspecific variation, SeedExtractor, Processing, Regenerating spuds, Gut microbiota, Plant microbiome, Citrus greening, Rusts never sleep, Bee competition, Pollinator decline, Genomic selection, Pig diversity

An analysis of genetic diversity actions, indicators and targets in 114 National Reports to the Convention on Biological Diversity. It is not well done, but the authors were surprised to see it done at all.
Essential indicators for measuring site‐based conservation effectiveness in the post‐2020 global biodiversity framework. Remote sensing will save us. But see above.
Pervasive cropland in protected areas highlight trade-offs between conservation and food security. Remote sensing (et al.) in action.
Conserving intraspecific variation for nature’s contributions to people. Well, yeah. But can remote sensing help?
SeedExtractor: An Open-Source GUI for Seed Image Analysis. Somebody mention intraspecific variation? Here’s a way to cope with seed variation.
The processed food revolution in African food systems and the double burden of malnutrition. There’s bad processing, and good processing, even the bad processing has some upsides, but really we should try to have only good processing.
Expression of internal reproductive barriers in a germplasm bank accession of the wild potato Solanum chacoense Bitter in three ex situ regeneration cycles. Ne < N.
Effects of Iron and Zinc Biofortified Foods on Gut Microbiota In Vivo (Gallus gallus): A Systematic Review. Biofortified foods are good for gut health. In chickens.
Experimental evidence of microbial inheritance in plants and transmission routes from seed to phyllosphere and root. Plants get their microbiome from the seeds whence they came, not just the environment.
A stable antimicrobial peptide with dual functions of treating and preventing citrus Huanglongbing. From a wild relative, natch.
Wheat rust epidemics damage Ethiopian wheat production: A decade of field disease surveillance reveals national-scale trends in past outbreaks. Boom-and-bust is alive and well.
Honey bee hives decrease wild bee abundance, species richness, and fruit count on farms regardless of wildflower strips. And the good news just keeps on coming.
Pollination strategies in the face of pollinator decline. The really good news is that plants may adapt to pollinator decline.
Genomic Selection for Any Dairy Breeding Program via Optimized Investment in Phenotyping and Genotyping. You don’t need more money, you just need to reallocate some of the phenotyping money to genotyping, genotypers say.
Runs of homozygosity provide a genome landscape picture of inbreeding and genetic history of European autochthonous and commercial pig breeds. Local breeds around Europe have similar genetic structures.

Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog

Posts

Seed sector lays it out

Brainfood: Green Revolution, Hybrid wheat, Pacific PGRFA, Temperate maize, Maize seed, Yemeni coffee, Nutrition agriculture, Vanilla breeding, Cultivar mixture, Meta-analysis, Algerian forages

What crop should I grow to get rich?

Journals take Nagoya on board

Brainfood: Post 2020 indicators double, Protected areas, Infraspecific variation, SeedExtractor, Processing, Regenerating spuds, Gut microbiota, Plant microbiome, Citrus greening, Rusts never sleep, Bee competition, Pollinator decline, Genomic selection, Pig diversity