Ayahuasca is the ethnomedicinal case study. First described scientifically in the 1950s by the pioneering ethnobotanist Richard Evans Schultes of Harvard, it is a complex phychoactive decoction used in shamanistic ritual, whose preparation epitomizes the sophisticated botanical knowledge of Amazonian Amerindians. Schultes disciple and ethnobotanical pin-up boy Wade Davis has a great TED talk about it. I bring all this up because of a short article in Portland’s Mail Tribune, of all places, “Southern Oregon’s News Source.” It seems the local chapter of the Brazil-based Church of the Holy Light of the Queen has just been allowed by the federal court to go ahead and brew up some “Daime tea,” which is another name for ayahuasca. Strictly for sacramental purposes, you understand. But I like the cut of that judge’s jib.
An American in Taiwan
Joel Haas is an American author and sculptor. He’s traveling in Taiwan at the moment, and writing about it online. I don’t think he has a particular interest in agrobiodiversity, but maybe I’m wrong, because there are many engaging observations on useful wild plants, crops and food in his posts and numerous photos.
Rust never sleeps
Wanna do a study of the state of knowledge on breeding for durable resistance to rust in wheat or soybean? Then GIPB would like to hear from you….
Farm business doing OK
Department of Silver Linings: No matter how bad things get, people still need to eat. The Economist reports on good times in the agriculture industry, even though “much of the global economy is falling apart and demand both for consumer goods 1 and the firms that make and finance them is collapsing”. You want scary?
China is consuming twice as much vegetable oil (instead of less healthy pork fat), 60% more poultry, 30% more beef and 25% more wheat, and these are merely the obvious foods. Scores of niches have expanded dramatically: people are drinking four times as much wine, for example.
And yet even with all this growth, people in China still, on average, consume only one-third as much milk and meat as people in wealthy countries such as Australia, America and Britain. The gap is even larger with India, which is also growing fast.
Buy now, while stocks last.
Using the internet for early warning of genetic erosion
Regular readers will recognize this as a bit of a hobbyhorse of mine. Turns out I’m not alone. A guest post over at Resilience Science discusses harnessing ICTs for ecological monitoring.
Can researchers who are interested in ecological monitoring tap into these increased flows of information by “mining†the internet to detect “early-warning†signs that may signal abrupt ecological changes?
Well, if ecological monitoring, why not genetic monitoring? The health community is in the vanguard, and reaping the benefits.
…nowadays, around 60% of all early warnings of emerging epidemic emergencies that reach the WHO come from … ICT tools.
Agrobiodiversity conservation and use also stand to gain immensely, I think. We just need to take that first step.