Stephen J. Gould said that “there’s been no biological change in humans for 40,000 or 50,000 years.” Gregory Cochran and Henry Harpending beg to differ and, in “The 10,000 Year Explosion,” point to evidence for a recent acceleration in human evolution (e.g. lactose intolerance) 1 and blame it on agriculture. Not everyone agrees. I can’t help finding the idea of the end of genetic change somewhat preposterous, a priori. 2 But one must find data. Check out the interview with Cochran at 2blowhards. 3 What all this means to us here, of course, is that when we assess variation in the nutritional value of agrobiodiversity, we need to remember that that value may differ among human individuals and populations.
Professional Plant Breeders for Tomorrow
The International Centre for Plant Breeding Education and Research (ICPBER) at the University of Western Australia (UWA) provides advanced education and research in plant breeding to enhance the world’s future supply of plant-based food, fibre and industrial raw materials in an era of changing climates.
ICPBER has only recently started work (August 2008), so it may be too early to tell what strategic directions it will take, but I hope it will cover both conventional and biotech approaches, and live up to its name by addressing the needs of all regions and crops. Will it compete with, say, similar Africa-based initiatives? I suspect there’s enough room — enough need — for both. Anyway, good to see it link up with the Global Partnership Initiative for Plant Breeding Capacity Building (GIPB). That should minimize the chances of duplication of efforts.
(Super)marketing agriculture
The latest ICT Update from CTA is all about market information systems in developing countries. A few months ago it was fair trade. 4 One of the featured articles is about Kenya’s commodity exchange, and the changes it has undergone since ICT Update first reported on it in 2002. This now officially qualifies as a trend. There was also news today that Ghana is thinking about following — and learning from — Ethiopia in setting up an “agricultural commodity exchange … to bring producers, buyers and consumers together to trade on a common platform by providing ready market for farm gate products from the agricultural centers.”
And far, far away, at the other end of the supply chain, Supermarket Secrets is a long (very long!) look behind the scenes at modern supermarket “practices that have significant implications on the health of our environment, our animals, our food — and ultimately our own health.” 5
LATER: Never rains but it pours. Here’s an example of such practices, from a review of the book Movable Feasts, by Sarah Murray, which sounds like a must-read: “Norwegian salmon is harvested, frozen, and sent by container ship to China, where it is de-boned in a factory, refrozen, and then sent on to markets in Europe and the US.”
Speaking of tubers …
“They’re the Ingrid Bergman to oca’s Marilyn Monroe.”
Rhizowen, the freshest new (old) voice in weird and wonderful veg is at it again with another go at Crap Crops of the Incas. This time the object of his adoration is ulluco. I wonder how they’d do on Vanuatu?
Agriculture in Old Japan
A woman is threshing rice stalks with a Senbakoki (åƒæ¯æ‰±ã, threshing machine), while a man is carrying straw bags balanced on a pole. In the back drying rice plants can be seen, it was customary to dry freshly cut rice plants before threshing commenced.
There aren’t that many photographs on the Old Photos of Japan website dealing with agriculture, but this is a great one, and the explanatory notes describe the rice cultivation calendar and point to a useful wikipedia article on Agriculture in the Empire of Japan. Would be interesting to match up with Vavilov’s observations on Japanese agriculture.