Jean-Christophe Glaszmann, an agronomist and expert in genetics, has just been awarded the prix Jean Dufrenoy, the French Academy of Agriculture’s highest distinction. The award was made in recognition of his work on the genetics and genomics of plant species of interest for the tropics.
A big picture
If everyone shifts trophic status to roughly herbivore level, and we educate all the world’s women to secondary level, we have a chance.
The difference between 12 billion and 9 billion people in 2050 is one child per woman. If all the world’s women were educated to secondary level, fertility would drop by about 1.7 children per woman. And we can probably feed 9 billion herbivorous people, if we can maintain the crop diversity of the major grain crops high enough to avoid catastrophic disease outbreaks.
Read more from Steve Carpenter at Resilience Science.
Fruit trifecta
Again I nibble, and then belatedly decide — spurred by Jeremy — that the stories deserved better. Yesterday served up three juicy fruit tales from around the world. First, how ancient mulberry trees are being cut down in Iran because of their connection with local superstitions. While, from half a world away, comes the story of how fruit trees planted centuries ago by the guardians of a different superstition are being sought out, documented and preserved. Go figure. And, finally, yet another story about saving the English apple, in the tradition of the East Yorkshire Federation of Women’s Institutes and the Prince of Wales. I don’t know what it is about the English apple, but lately it seems to have been out of the news rarely if at all. Moral outrage, no doubt: Something Must Be Done!
But in fact the fruit salad is not quite finished yet. Because after I had finished gently nibbling the above I came across another succulent morsel, in the shape of an article about Maryland farmers trying to move out of one vice — tobacco — and into another — wine. Actually what interested me most about that story was the support the farmers were receiving from local government:
The Tri-County Council for Southern Maryland started a grant program in 2005 that splits the cost of new vines with growers, which was the financial push many needed. This year, the St. Mary’s County Board of Commissioners invested almost half a million dollars in a cooperative winery on the Leonardtown Wharf.
No doubt our neophyte Maryland winemakers would complain stridently if something similar was done in South Africa, say. Or am I being unfair? Maybe, but what would Mexican chili pepper farmers say if the tax incentive for their Arizona brethren were to come through?
The Lost Cities of the Amazon
That’s the cheesy title of what should be a fascinating National Geographic documentary on a subject that we’ve covered here a number of times: the idea that the Amazon was once thickly settled. If anyone sees it, do let us know what it’s like.
Fishy facts
Myself, I’d rather eat wild cod once a month and sardines once a week than farm-raised salmon, ever.
Me too.
Well, not too often.
Warm blooded, acrobatic, long-lived, and wily, it’s a miracle of evolution.
But that shouldn’t stop us doing what we like to it, right?