Tag Archives: crop diversity

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

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

Scuba rice: biotech crop on a fast track towards release

Posted on May 25, 2014 by argylesock

A new biotech rice variety called Scuba or Swarna-Sub1 is going through field trials in India. It’s a long-grained rice (Oryza sativa L. ssp. indica) designed to be ‘climate-ready’ or ‘climate-smart’. That is, it’s designed to grow well as climates … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, food, knowledge transfer, weather and climate | Tagged Africa, Asia, backcrossing, biotechnology, breeding, climate, climate-ready crop, crop diversity, crop variety, Department for International Development, development, farmer, field trial, flood, gene, grain, International Rice Research Institute, marker assisted backcrossing, marker assisted selection, paddy field, plant_monocot, research, rice, rice Swarna, Scuba rice, seed, selective breeding, staple food, trade, weather | 6 Comments

Breast milk, indigenous food: A mother’s recipe for healthy children

Posted on May 12, 2014 by argylesock

Here’s Velvet Escario Roxas, a Filipino mother, telling us that children in the Philippines need breast milk and indigenous foods, not Golden Rice. Mrs Roxas says that Filipino women should breastfeed as she did. After weaning, she says these women … Continue reading →

Posted in food, human health, knowledge transfer | Tagged Asia, biotechnology, child, crop diversity, food availability, food sovereignty, fruit, genetic modification, Golden Rice, grain, leaf, local variety, mango, milk, moringa, nutrition, papaya, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, rice, sweet potato, tradition, vegetable, Vitamin A, woman | 2 Comments

The homogenisation and globalisation of diets

Posted on April 25, 2014 by argylesock

Originally posted on One Billion Hungry: Can We Feed the World?:
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization has estimated that some 75% of the diversity of cultivated crops was lost during the 20th Century and, by 2050, we could lose…

Posted in agriculture, food, horticulture, human health, money and trade | Tagged Africa, America, Asia, cassava, city, climate, conservation, crop, crop diversity, crop variety, development, disease, Europe, Food and Agriculture Organization, food safety, genetic diversity, grain, human, iodine, iron, law, micronutrient, millet, neglected crop, nutrition, pest, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, population, potato, prosperity, research, rice, rye, seedbank, staple food, sugar beet, sugar cane, sweet potato, trade, tuber, Vitamin A, wheat | 6 Comments

Open Source Seeds

Posted on April 19, 2014 by argylesock

Originally posted on Global Food Politics:
A group of researchers and plant breeders based at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, on Thursday announced a new initiative intended to break the monopoly control over plant genetic materials promoted by the use…

Posted in agriculture, horticulture, knowledge transfer, money and trade | Tagged America, brassica, breeding, broccoli, carrot, conservation, crop, crop diversity, development, Europe, farmer, food sovereignty, gardener, genetic diversity, kale, patent, plant_dicot, pseudocereal, quinoa, scientist, seed, seedbank, tradition, umbellifer, vegetable, vegetable variety | Leave a comment

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

James C. Scott on Food sovereignty: a critical dialogue

Posted on April 4, 2014 by argylesock

Originally posted on the anthropo.scene:
argylesock says… I like the way James C. Scott explains food sovereignty and food security in this lecture. He remarks on how we humans rely, mostly, on only three food sources: maize (corn, Zea mays), rice (Oryza sativa) and wheat … Continue reading →

Posted in food, human health, knowledge transfer | Tagged corn, crop, crop diversity, food, food security, food sovereignty, grain, invasive species, maize, neglected crop, plant_monocot, politics, population, rice, staple food, wheat | 8 Comments

What happens to European seeds now?

Posted on March 11, 2014 by argylesock

Originally posted on Passion in Food and Field:
Today (11th of March) the European Parliament voted for the rejection of the Commission proposal for a Regulation the production and marketing of Plant Reproductive Material. The Commission published the draft of…

Posted in agriculture, horticulture, money and trade | Tagged crop, crop diversity, crop variety, Europe, farmer, fruit, fruit variety, gardener, genetic diversity, grain, law, local variety, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, politics, rare variety, seed, trade, vegetable, vegetable variety | Leave a comment