A short and barely comprehensible article in the People’s Daily Online alerts us to the fact that Beijing is to become a “seed-planting capital in the next few years,” on the back of its “currently reserved over 390,000 national-class germplasm resources, ranking second in the world.” Apart from what that means, I also wonder whether the planned planting programme will include potatoes, whose cultivation in China is apparently plagued by “inadequate germplasm resources for cultivar development, the lack of high quality seed potatoes” and various other problems.
How bread-making came to Hawaii
If this 1840 advert intrigues you, or indeed if you think you know what plant the gentleman is holding in his hand, head on over to Rachel Laudan’s blog.
Birds not so smart after all?
Hold the phone! A press release informs us that over two winters, using two different varieties of wheat, garden birds and lab canaries preferred conventional over organic grain. And the reason seems to be that the conventional grain contained 10% more protein. Very smart! But before word goes out to the birds of the world, consider what else the press release says:
This study is only looking at one aspect of the organic food debate – it does not take into account the long-term health implications of using chemical fertilizers and pesticides, or the often negative environmental impact of conventional farming; for example, other work has shown that pesticides can strongly reduce availability of seeds for birds. But it does raise questions about the nutritional benefits of organic food and what consumers are being led to believe.
Because consumers in the UK are choosing organic for its higher protein levels? Because they’re short of protein? More to the point, has anyone asked the birds to consider the long-term consequences of their choices, like the reduced availability of seeds, or nesting spots, or insects for their insectivorous feathered friends?
And, let’s not forget, increased levels of carbon dioxide are reducing protein levels in wheat. Another good reason to grow conventionally, whatever that means.
“Gary says: [A]ll you will get from political advocates is disinformation and misinformation intended to advance their agenda.”
International Day for Biodiversity in Nairobi
If you’re in Nairobi, Kenya, next Saturday 22 May and you feel like celebrating the UN’s International Day for Biodiversity in this, the UN’s International Year for Biodiversity, you could do worse than pop along to the National Museum of Kenya’s Louis Leakey Auditorium for the first Nairobi Agrobiodiversity Debate. Kick off is at 11.30 a.m., and this is what you can expect, according to the organizer’s website:
Hans R Herren, an internationally recognized scientist and current president of the Millennium Institute (Washington, D.C., USA), will be the key note speaker. Hans’s fellow panelists will include Professor Steven Gichuki, Dean, School of Environmental Studies Kenyatta University and Patrick Maundu, an Ethnobotanist with National Museums of Kenya and Honorary Research Fellow with Bioversity International (Kenya and Dr Balakhrishna Pisupati from UNEP along with a few more special guests. The Nairobi Agrobiodiversity Debates will be moderated by our very own Dr Toby Hodgkin, Coordinator of the Platform for Agrobiodiversity Research and Principal Scientist with Bioversity International (Italy).
We’ll gratefully accept any first-hand reports.
Diversity and adversity in Yunnan, China
It can be a bit frustrating banging on about the importance of agricultural biodiversity when almost everybody else seems to be focused on simplistic solutions to complex problems. Frustrating, and tiring. So I’ll just point you to two items you can read for yourself and decide whether we are truly nuts. First, Nature’s report from Yunnan in China about the drought there. Secondly, a paper by Professor Yy Zhu and his colleagues, Crop Diversity for Yield Increase. Anyone should be able to join the dots.