Sardinian mysteries

by Jeremy on March 12, 2012 · 0 comments

With the recent news that some barley and oat varieties collected by Vavilov had been repatriated to Sardinia, it become obvious that this blog needed to just get on with it and bring itself back to life. An obvious way to do so would be to recount Vavilov’s travels on the island. Alas, he has very little to say on the matter, to whit:

Part of my expedition also studied Sardinia rather thoroughly.

Five Continents is very sketchy on Italy — just a page and a half — much of it devoted to the joys of Rome and the rice research station at Vercelli. OK, then, how about something about the repatriated varieties?

Easier said than done. The news report from VIR said nothing about them, beyond that they were samples of oats and of barley. We know enough by now to know that merely Googling will not be all that helpful. VIR’s holdings aren’t yet in GBIF, but the USDA’s are, and a couple of those — PI 258569 and PI 258570 — were collected in Sardinia and donated (in 1959) by the VIR. [1] Eurisco, another hellish database, shows 6 barleys and 7 oats from Sardinia, all apparently collected in 1998 and all housed at the IPK Gatersleben genebank in Germany. Eurisco shows 11858 results for Avena (oats) at the VIR, and with a little further poking can be prompted to reveal that 72 of them were collected in Italy between 1 January 1926 and today. [2] A bit more work, and I can reveal that 44 (or 45?) were collected in 1927. Vavilov was there in 1926. Ah well.

Why does any of this matter? I suppose it doesn’t. Not in the greater scheme of things. But surely, if it is worth sending stuff back to Sardinia, other than as an empty gesture of goodwill, it is worth saying somewhere what that stuff is. There may, after all, be interesting stories one could tell about it. Who knows, it could even be, or have been, useful.

Notes:
  1. That’s one of them on the map, suspiciously near the centre of the island. [↩]
  2. What’s with that; I tried all sorts of options for the second field of Collecting date, with no impact whatsoever on the results. [↩]
Geotag Icon Show on map

{ 0 comments }

Pavlovsk latest, but not very new

by Jeremy on March 5, 2012 · 0 comments

News of the Pavlovsk Experiment Station has been sitting ignored [1] on the Vavilov Institute’s website since November of last year. The crux of the matter is the legal status of the land on which the priceless collection of crop diversity is maintained.

On the morning of 9 November 2011 President Dmitry Medvedev published a decree “On securing land for the Pavlovsk experimental station.” He furthermore instructed the government to develop a law regulating the legal status of such land, and pass it to the State Duma for consideration within a week. [2]

VIR Director Nikolay Dzubenko gave the Presidential Decree a cautious welcome, noting that the Federal Housing Agency has not given up its claims on part of the station’s land. “The next test begins immediately,” said Dzyubenko.

The Federal Property Agency refused publicly to clarify its position, but told reporters in private that there is no contradiction with the Presidential decree. According to the Agency, the decree clearly states the need “To take a decision on securing land plots necessary for preservation of the plant genetic resources collection”. The Agency claims that four parcels of land are unused and are thus not necessary for the conservation of plant genetic resources collections. The housing authorities still plan to build on those plots.

Fyodor Mikhovic, director of the Pavlovsk Exeriment Station says that construction will kill the adjacent collections within 2-4 years. Fencing, heavy equipment, chemicals and other insults will destroy the plants. “Everything will be buried,” he said.

Work goes on

As before, the scientists have continued their work. In 2011, for example, they collected 120 tonnes of seed potatoes, all local varieties. In 2012 experiments to create new grain varieties will take place, dedicated to the 125th anniversary of Academician NI Vavilov’s birth.

Background

The VIR article is taken from a much longer news piece that also has a video report. That article gives the background to the story, reminding readers of the sacrifices made by VIR scientists.

Russia could lose a collection that devotees saved literally at the cost of their own lives.
“For them it was not food, it was a collection that had to be saved for future generations,” said Igor Loskutov, head of the oats, rye and barley group at the VIR.

Nematode smear?

Earlier news reports (see the VIR website) seem to have been directed at undermining the status of the Pavlovsk Experiment Station. These reports claimed that six fields at Pavlovsk were infected with potato golden cyst nematodes, a serious pest, and had been placed under quarantine.

VIR commented that official surveys had found nematode cysts in 2 of the six fields, but in negligible quantities.
One field yielded 13 cysts, with only 3 viable larvae, and the other a single cyst with no viable larvae. Infected fields normally contain hundreds of thousands of cysts.

VIR also said that it complies with all state phytosanitary measures, including rotation of the crops around the fields and fallowing fields under annual grasses and legumes. Golden cyst nematodes will not survive under such conditions. Equipment for cultivating the fields and packaging the potatoes is cleaned regularly, and the harvested potatoes are themselves disinfected to minimize the spread of the nematodes.

Notes:
  1. By me, at any rate. [↩]
  2. No further news on that law seems to be available … unless you know differently. [↩]

{ 0 comments }

BBC gives Vavilov his due

by Jeremy on July 6, 2011 · 2 comments

Trapped in Italy, it can be annoying to discover that a television programme that people recommend is not available in my country. Others’ too, I imagine. So I feel justified in sharing a segment from the final episode of the series Botany: A Blooming History. The episode traced the history of plant genetics; a nice straight line from Mendel, through William Bateson, Nikolay Vavilov, Norman Borlaug, Barbara McClintock to Jane Langdale. (Who she? you ask. Good question. Better one; why was she included in the show?)

This is not the place to critique the programme, which did play fast and loose with the truth on occasion. However, I do think the series would make a fascinating case study for scientists who think that television “ought” to do more about their field. I’d love to sit in on a chat among the series’ producers, the presenter, Timothy Walker [1], and scientists who know the field, to hear about the choices that were considered, adopted, rejected. Setting aside my own prejudices, I think they did a fine job, but …

Notes:
  1. whose glorious job title — Horti Praefectus of Oxford Botanic Garden — was, I learn, renamed ‘Director’ in 2002. Taxonomists will be glad to know that “the Latin synonym remains valid”. [↩]

{ 2 comments }

The importance of wild coffee

by Vavilov on May 4, 2011 · 0 comments

The Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog has a post pointing out the valuable lessons to be learned from the well-documented failure of a project to exploit the wild coffee of Kibale National Park in Uganda, thereby contributing to the park’s protection.

Remembering fondly my own experiences with wild coffee in the mountains of Abyssinia, I noted that Luigi, author of the piece, had mentioned only in passing the importance of wild coffee to breeding programmes. Quite right too; that was not the purpose of the Kibale Forest Wild Coffee project. So let me chime in. Coffea canephora, the species present in Kibale, has provided resistance to root-knot nematodes and is the basis of an interesting approach to improved production, based on hybrid seeds. The importance of wild coffee is evident. The importance of the post at the Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog less so. It is to win the author an all-expenses trip to India, where he will be able to blog, tweet and status World Environment Day. To help him do that, you need to follow these instructions:

I just entered @UNEPandYou @TreeHugger blogging contest to win trip to India for #WED2011. Read my post and please RT! http://bit.ly/jm7B8y

I’ll be doing just that.

{ 0 comments }

To grow bananas from date seeds

by Jeremy on April 28, 2011 · 1 comment

A chance remark on a friend’s blog prompted me to try and pick up a trail that had gone quite cold. Her friend was remarking that “the dates groves that flourish in Mexico’s Baja California oases were first planted by the Jesuit missionaries with seeds from North Africa”. Vavilov’s contact in Algeria, Louis Trabut, is credited with helping to introduce “hundreds of Algerian plants” into the US, among them the dates alluded to by a commenter on Rachel’s blog post. Back in 2009 I tried following this up but didn’t get very far; now I have, thanks to the Biodiversity Heritage Library.

Two early publications deal with the introduction of dates into the US. Walter Swingle’s The date palm and its utilization in the southwestern states (1904) I’m going to leave for now, not least because I want to give Rachel a fair crack at the whip. Date growing in the old world and the new, by Paul B. Popenoe (1913), however, proved irresistible, for one of the appendices: To Grow Bananas from Date Seeds:

“During the dark ages it was a widespread Arab superstition that bananas could, under certain circumstances, be grown from date seeds. The slight similarity in general appearance between the two plants was elevated to a real relationship, particularly by the Baghdád physician ‘Abdu-l Latif (twelfth century), in his Description of Egypt (pub. at Paris by Imperial Press, 1810, with tr. by S. de Sacy). The writer declares that to make the relationship evident all you need to do is to place a date seed in a fruit of the colocasia and bury it; the result will be a banana plant.

“The plant which the Arabs designate as colocasia (Arab., from Pers., qulqás) is doubtless not Colocasia antiquorum,  [1] but the sacred water lily of the Egyptians, Nymphea lotus (Castalia mystica). The way in which the writers speak of it shows, however, that they had only a hazy idea in mind, and probably did not really know what plant they were referring to.

“Ibn Awám, the Spanish Moor who wrote his treatise on agriculture in the twelfth century, gives more detailed directions for performing the operation, in his chapter entitled “To Make a Date Seed Grow in a Colocasia Root, to Obtain a Banana by the Permission of God.”  [2] He says:

“The manner of operating is to plant a colocasia root in a place constantly exposed to the sun, where one can water it abundantly and continuously and protect it from wind. Water it carefully until the root sprouts; then dig away the earth, split the root with a gold-bladed knife, and in that cleft introduce the date seed. The operation must be concealed in such a manner that the colocasia root can not see what is being done, otherwise the operation will not succeed. The seed used should be from a date of the variety Kasbeh  [3] or any other delicate variety. Bind up the cut with reed leaves or woolen thread and plaster the whole thing over with mud mixed with fine hairs, then cover it four fingers deep with humus. Water it with sweet water daily or every other day until the germination is apparent, then you will see the banana appear. If planted in January or February you will get fruit at the end of summer; this fact is very extraordinary. Some think the seed should be broken before it is put in the cleft; I have tried it without success.

“A witness worthy of faith tells me he has seen the operation performed in the orient in this manner: Take a seed in its fruit, using pains to get a female seed–it is that which is short and not pointed at the end. Introduce the seed in a colocasia root, which resembles a turnip or artichoke root; cover it with a little humus, water it continuously, and abundantly, and there will appear a banana, which is a kind of colocasia, but rare in Spain, if indeed it is known at all.”

Another MS. version, more probably correct, makes Ibn Awán say that he has never been able to try the operation, because he could not secure any colocasias.”

Why mention this? Certainly not to poke fun at mistaken beliefs. Partly because it’s just fascinating, and I wanted to share. Partly, too, because having learned recently of The Filāḥa Texts Project, and being utterly ignorant of Arabic, I wanted a reason to poke around there. Having done so, I was a bit surprised to see this comment:

“As for my own contribution, I put forward nothing that I have not first proved by experiment on repeated occasions” (Ibn al-‘Awwām, Clément-Mullet 1866, I, p. 9). He records, for example, his experiments in grafting the wild olive of the mountains with the domesticated olive of the plain, and his successful cultivation of saffron, under irrigation, in the mountains (Bolens 1981, p. 30).

Popenoe’s doubts then make sense, but I’m singularly ill-equipped to know; maybe an authentic Arab scholar can help.

Notes:
  1. Taro, Colocasia esculenta. [↩]
  2. A chapter I have not been able to find. [↩]
  3. About which Popenoe waxes lyrical in the extreme. [↩]

{ 1 comment }

Vavilov Institute publishes meeting summary and policy statement

by Jeremy on April 14, 2011 · 0 comments

The N.I. Vavilov Research Institute of Plant Industry (VIR) recently published a summary of the two-day meeting on the nutritional value of the berry fruits in the VIR’s collection at Pavlovsk and a policy statement by the International Working Group.

Has there been any response from the authorities?

{ 0 comments }

Vavilov in a novel

by admin on April 12, 2011 · 0 comments

Anne Marie Ruff is a reporter and friend of the Vaviblog who wants to let readers know about her first novel, Through These Veins.

With the recently published novel, Through These Veins, I am hoping to introduce Vavilov and his mission to a completely new audience; readers who enjoy a good yarn and who may never have heard the word biodiversity before.

In the story, Vavilov’s real life is interwoven with the fictional life of a modern day plant explorer – an heir to Vavilov’s understanding of the tremendous value of wild and cultivated biodiversity with which humans interact all over the planet.

In the coffee-growing highlands of Ethiopia, the plant explorer (inspired by a charismatic Italian Bioversity scientist) on a plant-collecting expedition discovers a local medicine man dispensing an apparent cure for AIDS. As the medicine man’s teenage daughter reveals the plants behind the cure, their lives become irrevocably intertwined. Through These Veins weaves together the dramatically different worlds of traditional healing, US-government-funded AIDS research, and the pharmaceutical industry in an intensely personal, fast-paced tale of scientific intrigue and love, with both devastating and hopeful effect.

The novel is the product of years of reporting on the biodiversity community, which allowed me to travel to several of the same countries where Vavilov explored and collected.

As admirers of Vavilov and biodiversity proponents, I hope Vaviblog readers will welcome Vavilov’s appearance in a fictional story. And if you think your friends beyond the biodiversity community might enjoy the story, so much the better.

All profits from the sale of this eBook ($3.45 of the $4.99 price) will be distributed to the Institute of Biodiversity Conservation in Ethiopia and the Campaign for Access to Essential Medicines of Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders. The print version of the book is expected in June 2011.

If you want to know more about this project, follow Through These Veins on Facebook.

{ 0 comments }

Russia’s promises to the world, Part 2

by Jeremy on April 6, 2011 · 2 comments

A second wonderful statement, this time from Russian President Dimitry Medvedev, delivered to the World Grain Forum in St Petersburg in June 2009.

3638435113 e5391925f5

“…To finish my introductory speech, I would like to emphasize the absolute importance of research in crop science. Therefore, it is utterly not by accident that this forum is held in St Petersburg, home city for the Vavilov Institute of Plant Industry –- a research centre of global significance, the holder of a unique collection of more than 200,000 crop accessions. Searching for innovations, applying modern agricultural technologies and using achievements of plant breeding and seed science are the requisites for dynamic development of grain production.”

Did he have some inkling of the devastation awaiting Russia’s wheat harvest, and much else, in 2010? And does his heartfelt concern about the importance of research and plant breeding extend beyond grains to, say, the fruits and berries currently still at risk in the field genebanks of Pavlovsk Experiment Station?

Photo by kromka, used with permission.

{ 2 comments }

Russia’s promises to the world, Part 1

by Jeremy on April 5, 2011 · 0 comments

The Director of the Vavilov Institute, Nikolay Dzyubenko, reminded participants at last week’s berry meeting that the Russian Federation had made firm commitments to share its genetic resources with the world. He mentioned two recent statements by political leaders, and thanks to the good offices of Sergey Alexanian, Vice Director for International Relations at the Vavilov Institute, we can share them here.

4110457440 bfc89e3baf m Speaking at the World Summit on Food Security at FAO headquarters in Rome in November 2009, the Minister of Agriculture Yelena Skrynnik said: “Russia supports the collective efforts of the world community in their struggle against hunger, and … As an explicit contribution to the solution of this task, Russia is ready to commence the procedure of incorporating the renowned unique global plant genetic resources collection of the Vavilov Institute into the system of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.”

Not too sure how that’s going.

Photo Copyright FAO.

{ 0 comments }

The virtues of fruit diversity: a price far above rubies

by Jeremy on March 31, 2011 · 0 comments

A second round-up of events today at the meeting about the crop diversity collections of the Pavlovsk Experiment Station, which are threatened with destruction for housing

The second day of the meeting [1] was a chance for the project team to provide some context for their work of the past 3 years, for an audience which on this occasion included not just VIR staff, as on the previous day, but researchers from agricultural universities and the Institute of Botany, a representative of the Ministry of Agriculture from Moscow, and the local media.

First, Professor Nikolay Dzyubenko, the director of VIR, gave an overview of the history of the institute and its achievements. Despite a tight budget, the institute perseveres in its collecting, evaluation, distribution, breeding and research work. For example, almost 4,000 accessions were added to the collection in 2010 as a result of collecting in Russia and some neighbouring countries; 15,000 accessions were evaluated; and about 20,000 distributed, mainly to breeding institutes around Russia. We were reminded that the Russian Minister of Agriculture told the world at a high-level meeting on food security at FAO in November 2009 that VIR’s collection was available for use by the world’s plant breeders in their efforts to adapt crops to climate change. Next year will be the 125th anniversary of Vavilov’s birth, and celebrations are being planned.

The celebrations, however, are bound to have a hollow ring to them if the problems that the Pavlovsk Station has been experiencing of late are not resolved.

We heard the latest news from Artem Sorokin, who also outlined the history and make-up of the collection. A moratorium is now in place, as of 9 December 2010, on any commercial development of the site. And the composition of the expert commission that will decide on the future of the station has apparently been agreed. It looks like they may visit the station in May. Still all to play for. In parallel, VIR is working with the Ministry of Agriculture on the text of a law on plant genetic resources that will seek to settle the legal standing of germplasm collections, and put their funding on a more secure footing.

Luigi Guarino of the Global Crop Diversity Trust attempted to put the work of VIR in a wider institutional context. The Trust has been very active in an international campaign to support VIR’s efforts to save Pavlovsk. The length and breadth of expertise at VIR, and the historical importance, uniqueness, size and diversity of the collections it manages, strongly suggest that it could — and should — play a regional, and indeed global, role in the long-term conservation and availability of crop diversity. The best way it can show its readiness and ability to do this is by sharing data through such platforms as Eurisco and Genesys. And by placing its collections in the Multilateral System of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. We were assured during the Q&A that VIR is working hard for Russian ratification of the Treaty.

Finally, Jessica Fanzo, Bioversity’s nutritionist, provided a frightening summary of Russian health. In 2001, the latest year for which she could find solid data, 10% of Russian children were malnourished, and 50% of adults overweight or obese. That’s a stunning double burden, driven by the unrelenting “modernization”, and concomitant simplification, of diets. Fanzo quoted the Federal Consumer Protection Service as saying that Russia is losing its culinary traditions. And with them, she added, its health. That’s why projects such as the one just ended are so important. This new research on the nutritional quality of some of the berries in the Pavlovsk collection represents a new sort of collaboration, between genebanks and nutritionists, which will hopefully help forge new connections, between local plant genetic resources and better nutrition.

There was much spirited discussion of this topic, which obviously struck a chord with the participants, who bombarded Jessica with requests for nutritional advice. One response stuck in my mind. Jessica was asked whether one couldn’t get all the vitamins and minerals one needs from pills. She said yes, but you have to get everything else from food, so why not the vitamins as well, by choosing your food better?

Much remains to be done in making that connection between local berries and better nutrition in Russia. Research will be needed on bioavailability, on the health impact of increased consumption, and on the best ways to approach promotion. But the first link in the chain is in place, in that we now have a clear idea of the great nutritional value of many of the accessions in the Pavlovsk collection. What a tragedy it would be if the collection were to be lost now, just as we begin to truly understand how valuable it could be to Russia, and indeed the world. That, at any rate, is the gist of the statement that will come out of the meeting, and the message that the journalists present will hopefully take back to their readers, and everybody back to their families.

Notes:
  1. Conservation, characterization and evaluation for nutrition and health of vegetatively propagated crop collections at the Vavilov Institute, a partnership between VIR, the Centre de Recherche Public–Gabriel Lippmann in Luxembourg and Bioversity International. [↩]
Geotag Icon Show on map

{ 0 comments }

← Previous Entries