Platform for Agrobiodiversity Research

 Dear readers,

We apologise  for our absence from the Website . The Platform for Agrobiodiversity Research is currently developing and expanding its website to provide additional resources and facilities and to make it easier to use. In addition to the main Platform website and the agrobiodiversity and climate change web space you can now explore two other web spaces dealing with crop diversity to reduce pest and disease damage and a new initiative called the Indigenous Partnership for Agrobiodiversity and Food Sovereignty.

Please send us your comments and ideas for further improvements.

Authors:  Jackson, L., Noordwijk, M.,  van,Bengtsson, J., Foster, W.
Lipper, L., Pulleman, M.,  Said, M. , Snaddon, J. , Vodouhe, R.
 
Citation:  Jackson, L. et al. 2010. Biodiversity and agricultural sustainagility: from assessment to adaptive management.
 
Abstract:  Rapid changes in land use, food systems, and livelihoods require social–ecological systems that keep multiple options open and prepare for future unpredictability. Sustainagility refers to the properties and assets of a system that sustain the ability (agility) of agents to adapt and meet their needs in new ways. In contrast, sustainability tends to invoke persistence along current trajectories, and the resilience to return to current baselines. With three examples, the use and conservation of agrobiodiversity is explored along temporal, spatial, and human institutional scales for its role in sustainagility: first, farmers’ seed systems; second, complex pollination systems; and third, wildlife conservation in agricultural areas with high poverty. Incentives are necessary if agrobiodiversity is to provide benefits to future generations.

The paper published in ELSEVIER is now available online at www.sciencedirect.com.

By incorporating indigenous vegetables and increasing crop diversity, farmers in Zimbabwe improved their diets and increased agricultural resilience.

A recent study by researchers from Cornell and Rhodes universities and the Sebakwe Black Rhino Conservation Trust found that traditional food crops, such as mubovora (pumpkin) and ipwa (sweet reed), are an important source of community resilience in Zimbabwe—including resilience to climate change and economic turbulence. Unlike traditional crops, the majority of commercial crops that have been introduced to the region “are not adapted to local conditions and require high inputs of agrochemical inputs such as fertilizers, mechanization, and water supply,” according to the study. These crops tend to be more vulnerable to climatic changes, such as the drought and subsequent flooding that occurred in Zimbabwe’s Sebakwe area in 2007.

Read the full article

 On 22 May 2010, the Platform for Agrobiodiversity Research (PAR) organized it’s first public discussion to celebrate the United Nations proclaimed International Day for Biological Diversity. The main aim of the seminar was to increase the public’s understanding and awareness of agricultural biodiversity and it importance in the wider picture of biodiversity. The event attended by more than 50 participants was held at the National Museum of Kenya’s Louis Leakey Auditorium in Nairobi which coincidentally was the venue for the CBD’s International Day for Biological Diversity celebrations.

 An interesting presentation was given by the keynote speaker Dr Hans Herren, the current president of the Millennium Institute and 1995 World Food Prize Laureate. His presentation titled “Multifunctionality: The Unexplored Positive Side of Agriculture” focused on the importance and relevance of sustainable agriculture.He addressed the multifunctional and how it involves small scale farmers and the need for a holistic approach towards “reconstructing” agriculture friendly ecosystems. He also talked about “unexplored positive sides of agriculture”, where he gave classic examples on how agricultural systems can be managed to benefit people and biodiversity.

His presentation was supported by the panelists with Dr Bala Pisupati from UNEP who spoke talking about his experiences in India and Patrick Maundu from National Museums of Kenya/Bioversity International who gave a brief presentation on the important role of agricultural biodiversity  in strengthening adaptability and resilience to climate change.

In conclusion,  Herren emphasised the need for changes  in production and consumption patterns to reduce impacts and contribute to biodiversity conservation and sustainable use.

Download the full presentation (pdf)

A PhD scholarship is available in the Centre for Soil and Environmental Research, Lincoln University, New Zealand, to study soil microbial ecology and its relationship with nitrogen transformations and losses in soil. We are seeking a candidate with a Masters or Honours Degree specialising in soil microbiology/molecular biology, particularly with expertise in molecular biology techniques. Candidates with soil molecular biology and nitrogen cycling backgrounds are particularly encouraged to apply.

For further information, please contact Professor Hong J Di (email: email hidden; JavaScript is required) or Professor Keith C Cameron (email: email hidden; JavaScript is required).

The scholarship includes a student stipend of NZ$26,000 per year for 3 years; plus tuition fees.

Please submit your applications to Centre for Soil and Environmental Research, PO Box 84, Lincoln University, or email: email hidden; JavaScript is required.

Applications close at 4:30 pm Friday 18 June 2010.

Leading experts on nutrition, gathered in a world-famous museum in the heart of Rome, heard that the world was now at a tipping point where it had the scientific understanding and know-how to come together to make malnutrition history……Read the full article

FAO has launched a new website  to track the advance of Ug99 the devastating strain of wheat stem rust disease and other wheat rusts amid concern the fungus is on the march across Africa and could head toward South Asia.

The aim of “Rust SPORE” is to deliver up-to-date information on the status of wheat stem rust, monitor important new strains of the disease and synthesize and provide easy access to reliable data on a global scale.

Have a look at the new website.  

International prices of key food staples have dropped during the first five months of 2010 according to the latest edition of FAO’s biannual Food Outlook report, released last week.

The FAO Food Price Index averaged 164 points in May 2010, down from 174 points in January and substantially less than its peak of 214 in the spring of 2008, the report notes.

A fall in international prices of cereals and sugar were among the main drivers behind this decline. Sugar prices have tumbled by half from their peak at the beginning of the year under prospects of significant production increases……..Read the full article

Source: http://www.topnews.in/

 Italy has announced a contribution of 1.2 million euros to compensate some of the world’s poorest farmers for conserving and propagating crop varieties that could prove to be the saviour of global food security over the coming decades.

The contribution to a benefit-sharing scheme managed by the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture  was recently announced during the celebrations on the International Day of Biodiversity which has as its theme: Biodiversity, Development and Poverty Alleviation. 

The Italian donation follows on the heels of a $2.2 million donation made by Spain at the end of last year, and highlights the interest of many Mediterranean countries in the preservation of food crop diversity.

By investing in the Treaty’s new Benefit-sharing Fund Italy is directly and positively addressing global biodiversity and agro-biodiversity for a sustainable management of the rural areas and natural resources also by supporting smallholder farmers preserve and use crop diversity in developing countries.

Read the full article.

ICIMOD launched a new HKH Conservation Portal on 24 May 2010  at an event at its Headquarters in Kathmandu, Nepal in celebration of the International Day for Biological Diversity, Saturday 22 May 2010.  The portal will serve as a regional repository of biodiversity and conservation related information, including detailed information on the protected areas, corridors, biodiversity resources, and livelihoods within different landscapes. It provides a platform for sharing data and information among the countries in the region and beyond, and encourages you to both use and contribute the data. You can visit the website at http://www.icimod.org/hkhconservationportal/