Tag Archives: biodiversity

America’s dwindling diversity

Posted on July 13, 2014 by argylesock

Here’s a graphic picture about the range of crop varieties available to farmers and growers in the United States. A range falling and falling between 1903 and 1983. Of course some of the now-extinct varieties will have been weak, but … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, horticulture, knowledge transfer | Tagged America, biodiversity, biotechnology, conservation, crop diversity, genetic modification, history | 3 Comments

Biofortified GM bananas

Posted on June 22, 2014 by argylesock

James Dale is a scientist at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT, Australia). His lab has developed a genetically modified (GM, genetically engineered) banana (Musa × paradisiaca) rich in ‘pro-vitamin A’. Here’s the QUT report. This is the ‘super banana’ … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, food, horticulture, knowledge transfer | Tagged Africa, Agrobacterium tumefaciens, America, Asia, banana, banana Cavendish, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, biodiversity, biofortification, biotechnology, breeding, carotenoid, child, conservation, cotton, crop diversity, crop variety, development, East African cooking banana, food security, food sovereignty, fruit, fruit variety, gene, gene gun, genetic modification, iron, land grab, local variety, marker assisted backcrossing, micronutrient, Monsanto, nutrition, patent, plantain, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, poverty, pro-vitamin A, Provit Banana, research, rice, Scuba rice, seed, soya, staple food, super banana, tissue culture, trade, Vitamin A | 2 Comments

Special bananas: Africa’s answer to Golden Rice?

Posted on June 18, 2014 by argylesock

Oluwabusayo Sotunde (writing as Busayo in Ventures Africa) tells us about a ‘special banana’ (Musa × paradisiaca) rich in alpha-carotene and beta-carotene. After eating those carotenes, the body converts them to Vitamin A. So they’re ‘provitamins’. This new genetically modified … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, horticulture, human health, knowledge transfer | Tagged Africa, America, Asia, banana, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, biodiversity, biofortification, biotechnology, child, development, food sovereignty, fruit, fruit variety, genetic modification, Golden Rice, grain, Green Revolution, nutrition, plantain, plant_monocot, Provit Banana, research, rice, staple food, tree, Vitamin A, woman | 6 Comments

What is biodiverse food?

Posted on June 13, 2014 by argylesock

Ann Tutwiler of Bioversity International tells us why in the 21st century, we need biodiverse food. And she tells us what that could mean. Ms Tutwiler doesn’t mince her words, saying that a need for dramatically increased food production is … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, food, horticulture, knowledge transfer | Tagged amaranth, banana, barley, biodiversity, biotechnology, cacao, cassava, climate, commodity, corn, crop, development, fertiliser, food, food security, food sovereignty, fossil fuel, foxtail millet, genetic diversity, grain, grass, Green Revolution, grocery, knowledge, maize, neglected crop, oats, pearl millet, plantain, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, politics, pollution, potato, poverty, prosperity, public_private partnership, quinoa, research, rice, rye, small millet, smallholder, soil, sorghum, staple food, supermarket, sustainable, teff, trade, water, wheat, wild rice | 3 Comments

Contamination Matters – Why GM crops can’t be managed at a national level

Posted on June 5, 2014 by argylesock

Rob White at GM Freeze in Manchester, England, tells us that GM (genetically modified, genetically engineered) crops can’t be managed at a national level. As you know I’m quite discouraged about this biotech. Is the GM crops war over? I’m … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, food, horticulture | Tagged academia, America, Asia, biodiversity, biotechnology, Bt crop, crop, escaping transgene, Europe, flax, flax Triffid, food, genetic modification, grain, herbicide resistance, insecticide, law, oilseed, pesticide, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, politics, research, rice, rice Bt63, rice LL601, rice LL62, textile, trade, Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership | 9 Comments

Is the GM crops war over? What’s next?

Posted on May 31, 2014 by argylesock

GM (genetically modified, genetically engineered) crops are a fact of life by now. In our interconnected world (remember the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, TTIP, which might be finalised soon) I think that people who oppose GM crops may have … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, fish, food, horticulture, miniculture, money and trade | Tagged Africa, America, aquaculture, Asia, biodiversity, biotechnology, Bt crop, commodity crop, crop diversity, development, Dow, entomoculture, Europe, evolution, farmer, feed, finfish, fisher, foraging, genetic modification, hunting, insect, International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications, invertebrate, Monsanto, neglected crop, pesticide resistance, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, population, Roundup Ready crop, shellfish, soya, staple food, superbug, superweed, Swaminathan_Monkombu, trade, tradition, Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, vertebrate, wild food | 10 Comments

Feature: Protecting the pollinators part 1 – bees and ecology

Posted on April 21, 2014 by argylesock

argylesock says… We need bees and other pollinators. We really, really need them. Here’s the first of three articles about pollinators, from the Wellcome Trust blog, which I’ll pass on today.

Posted in agriculture, ecology, food, miniculture | Tagged apiculture, arachnid, arthropod, beetle, biodiversity, bumblebee, coleopteran, conservation, crop, Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, dipteran, disease, ecosystem, habitat loss, honeybee, hoverfly, hymenopteran, insect, mite, pesticide, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, pollination, research, seed, Varroa destructor, virus, wasp, wild bee, wild pollinator | 2 Comments

Food security and biofuels

Posted on April 15, 2014 by argylesock

Biofuels are renewable because they’re made from plants or animals, which grow. But sometimes biofuels are produced in ways that are not sustainable. Hungry people sometimes pay the cost. Can food security and biofuels go hand in hand? Today Léna … Continue reading →

Posted in food, knowledge transfer, money and trade, weather and climate | Tagged access to land, algae, biodiversity, biofuel, climate, development, export, farmer, fire, food security, knowledge, land grab, land use, law, livestock, plant_dicot, plant_gymnosperm, plant_monocot, politics, poverty, prosperity, tillage, trade, tradition, waste, water | 7 Comments

Genetic engineering in agriculture

Posted on April 10, 2014 by argylesock

As the European Union and the United States approach agreement on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), now’s a good time for us Europeans to approach understanding of USian farming. And vice versa. Today I’m looking at the Union … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, money and trade | Tagged agroecology, America, biodiversity, biotechnology, crop, crop diversity, ecosystem, Europe, genetic modification, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, politics, seed, selective breeding, sustainable, trade, Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership | 9 Comments

Fertilisers destabilise grasslands

Posted on March 21, 2014 by argylesock

Here’s new evidence that fertilising grasslands can make them less stable. Therefore, fertilised grasslands might become more vulnerable to climate change. This is a serious matter in our hungry world. Here’s the science. This research was led by Andy Hector … Continue reading →

Posted in ecology, food | Tagged academia, biodiversity, climate, ecosystem, eutrophic, fertiliser, food security, grassland, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, research, soil | Leave a comment