Tag Archives: genetic diversity

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

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

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

FAO launches new standards for plant genebanks

Posted on February 2, 2014 by argylesock

Plant diversity is essential in so many ways. So it’s good to learn that the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has announced ‘voluntary, international standards for the many repositories – or genebanks – around the world that store … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, food, horticulture | Tagged biodiversity, conservation, crop, crop diversity, crop variety, food, food security, fruit variety, gene, genebank, genetic diversity, local variety, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, rare variety, seed, seedbank | Leave a comment

Exposing the Lie: How Monsanto Does Not Represent Sustainable Agriculture

Posted on January 10, 2014 by argylesock

Originally posted on Paper to Use:
A web search for Monsanto brings up their homepage along with the phrase “A Sustainable Agriculture Company.” They have a heart-warming mission statement about “helping farmers” meet the needs of a growing population. There…

Posted in agriculture | Tagged biodiversity, biotechnology, conservation, crop diversity, crop variety, fruit variety, genetic diversity, genetic modification, herbicide, Monsanto, pesticide, seed, sustainable, vegetable variety | 3 Comments

Remember the forgotten crops

Posted on December 24, 2013 by argylesock

This is my 1000th post on this blog. My 500th is here. I use my 1000th post to honour Monkombu Swaminathan, the scientist known as Father of the Green Revolution in India. Here’s an interview with Fred Pearce at Bioversity … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, food, horticulture, knowledge transfer | Tagged access to food, biofortification, biotechnology, breadfruit, conservation, corn, crop, crop diversity, crop variety, farmer, food, food sovereignty, genetic diversity, genetic modification, grain, Green Revolution, history, iron, Iron Rich Pearl Millet, maize, millet, neglected crop, nutrition, Orange Fleshed Sweet Potato, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, population, poverty, research, rice, scientist, selective breeding, sorghum, staple food, sustainable, Vitamin A, wheat, zinc | 6 Comments

Neglected and underutilised species

Posted on December 5, 2013 by argylesock

The New Agriculturalist tells us about neglected and underutilised species. ‘Variety is said to be the spice of life and to make our lives more interesting. And yet, worldwide, a significant proportion of the global treasure chest of plant biodiversity … Continue reading →

Posted in food, human health, knowledge transfer | Tagged biodiversity, biotechnology, breeding, conservation, corn, crop, crop variety, development, domestication, extinction, food, Food and Agriculture Organization, food security, genebank, genetic diversity, genetic modification, grain, history, human, knowledge, maize, neglected crop, nutrition, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, population, research, rice, seedbank, selective breeding, staple food, wheat | 2 Comments

Seeds on seeds on seeds: Why more biodiversity means more food security

Posted on November 2, 2013 by argylesock

argylesock says… The United States is home to Monsanto, the biotechnology giant that develops and sells the world’s most popular genetically modified (GM, genetically engineered, GE) crops. I blog about GM often, including reviews of a series of articles by … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, food, knowledge transfer, money and trade | Tagged biodiversity, biotechnology, climate, climate-ready crop, crop diversity, crop variety, food, food security, fruit variety, genetic diversity, genetic modification, local variety, Monsanto, rare variety, seed, trade, vegetable variety | Leave a comment

The importance of seed diversity

Posted on August 15, 2013 by argylesock

Originally posted on One Billion Hungry: Can We Feed the World?:
Seeds might be small, inconspicuous things but they hold a great deal of power. For some, seeds mean survival, ritual, life. They are the basis of much of the…

Posted in food, knowledge transfer | Tagged breeding, conservation, corn, crop, crop diversity, crop variety, development, food, food sovereignty, genebank, genetic diversity, grain, Green Revolution, history, intensive, knowledge, local variety, maize, millet, neglected crop, pearl millet, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, rice, seed, seedbank, selective breeding, staple food, sustainable | Leave a comment