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Matt DiLeo on 5 September 2011
Someday you’ll be able to use CAD software to draw up what you want a plant to look like and the software (containing detailed growth models) will tell you what genetic constructs you need to bring it into the world…
But for now we barely understand how natural morphological variation is controlled. So I was excited to see this paper out of the van der Knaap and Francis labs. In it, they review some of the known levers by which tomato plants control fruit shape and investigate their historical appearance.
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Matt DiLeo on 13 June 2011
I just went to the new “What’s Cooking, Uncle Sam?” exhibit at the National Archives. It tells the history of the government’s role in U.S. food and agriculture – a story of market protectionism, social engineering and the regulated tension between the aspirations of business and the demands of the people…
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Matt DiLeo on 13 May 2011
The “perennial grain” story seems to pop up every few months. The basic idea is that perennial crops would have higher yields and lower environmental impacts than their annual kin.
The picture on the left explains pretty clearly why – large permanent root systems secure the topsoil, exhaustively scavenge water and nutrients and support more vigorous shoot growth over a longer season.
This week, it’s perennial maize.
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Matt DiLeo on 20 April 2011
It’s 3 am local time and I’m wide awake, fixated on the challenge of brand differentiation in ketchup…
I recently spoke with one of the ketchup tomato breeders I know. Among other topics, he lamented the consumer’s irrational fixation on price. He pointed out that most of us won’t hesitate to grab a generic bottle of ketchup over a trusted brand for a difference of only 20 cents – which breaks down to no difference over the months it sits in your fridge: How do you sell a better product to a customer who’s not willing to pay 1 cent more per week?
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Matt DiLeo on 11 April 2011
“Heirlooms were varieties that were so unsuccessful that they wouldn’t be sold today…
Every product declines until it’s replaced by new heirlooms.”
The backlash was inevitable.
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