Corydalis curviflora rosthornii ‘Blue Heron’

Common name :  Blue Corydalis

Just recently collected in China, this outstanding selection may be the best blue-flowered Corydalis ever introduced. It forms a mound of ferny blue-grey foliage, topped for several weeks in the spring with clusters of intense sapphire-blue fragrant blooms. Give this a cool, shady position with regular moisture. May go dormant in summer if kept too hot or dry. Habit appears to be distinctly clumping rather than spreading, with little or no self seeding. Performance over a wide range of climates is not yet known. An absolute gem for the moist woodland garden. Collected in Sichuan, China by Dan Hinkley of the famous Heronswood Nursery in Washington State.

	Conditions	Appearance
	Sun Exposure   Partial Shade Soil Type   Normal   Sandy Soil pH   Neutral   Alkaline   Acid Soil Moisture   Moist Care Level   Moderate	Flower Colour   Deep Blue Blooming Time   Early Summer   Mid Spring   Late Spring Foliage Color   Grey Green Plant Uses & Characteristics   Accent: Good Texture/Form   Alpine & Rock   Border   Containers   Edging   Rabbit Resistant   Fragrant   Specimen   Woodland Flower Head Size   Medium Height    20-25 cm    8-10 inches Spread    25-30 cm    10-12 inches Foot Traffic    None Growth Rate    Slow

Chilean plans for blueberry exports to China move a step closer

Chile is going through the final approval stages of protocols allowing it to export to China with the arrival later this month of two inspectors from the superpower.

Chile Blueberry Committee manager Andrés Armstrong, told www.freshfruitportal.com they were waiting for an exact date to be confirmed and explained the inspectors would be checking that the first fruit shipments complied with China’s requirements.The inspections by China’s General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIC) fulfill the final part of the protocol signed last June, after three years of negotiations.

Following the visit, Chilean exporters will have the go-ahead to start exporting directly to China.

China’s 1,400 million inhabitants have an increasingly greater purchasing power making it an attractive market.

The Chilean Blueberry Committee said exporting to the country was one of its major objectives in a bid to diversify.

Blueberry consumption has risen over the last few years following greater awareness of the fruit’s high anti-oxidant levels.

The U.S. is Chile’s largest export destination with 69,600 metric tons (MT) shipped in 2010-11.

Source: www.freshfruitportal.com

Two new AVRDC tomato varieties released in China

Sharing techniques and genetic material between AVRDC – The World Vegetable Center and Qingdao Academy of Agricultural Sciences in the People’s Republic of China is bearing fruit: In late June, Prof. Huang Ting-Ting, tomato breeder at the Qingdao Academy of Agricultural Sciences, announced the development of two tomato lines, F2-21 and F2 X 04-3, that are derived from AVRDC’s late blight resistant inbred line CLN2037, with resistance to late blight, Tomato mosaic virus (ToMV), Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) and leaf mold. Read full article at the CheckBiotech site>

BGI, China Partners to Sequence Orchids

Newsletter: GenomeWeb Daily News
NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Chinese genomics and botany researchers will sequence and analyze the whole genome of one common variety of orchid, Phalaenopsis equestris, and the transcriptomes of ten other species from the orchid family, Tsinghua University said this week.

The research will be conducted by the Tsinghua University Graduate School at Shenzhen, the National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan, the National Orchid Conservation Center, the Beijing Genomics Institute – Shenzhen, and the Institute of Botany of CAS.

The university said that the sequencing and assembling of the draft sequence of the orchid genome will take around six months, and it expects the transcriptome for the ten other orchid species to be completed around the same time.

Read more>

And Now, the Rest of the World

Posted:
June 15, 2009 06:00 AM PDT
AGnet NEWS

Macomb, IL(WIU Ag Dept.)- As we see corn and soybean plants growing, on their journey to harvest, it is easy to forget that millions of corn and soybean acres outside of both Illinois and the United States are also starting on that journey.

The US produces not quite half of the world's corn. China is the world's second leading producer, but their total corn production is only about half of the US. As much corn is grown in Brazil as in Europe, but Brazilian exports are 5 times larger. This season, production in the US and Europe will be down slightly from previous years. However, it is what is happening in the US that is key to world corn prices. Most of the US corn crop remains here - about 40% is used to feed livestock, another 40% is used for food and industrial purposes, including ethanol, and the remaining corn is available for export. While exports take a relatively small amount of the US corn crop, those export amounts are extremely important to the world. Over the past several years, US corn has provided nearly 60% of the world's corn exports. In large part, it is US corn that drives world markets.

Read more:

What is the crop productivity and environmental impact of too much or too little fertilizer?

Jeremy Hance
mongabay.com
June 18, 2009

While the use of synthetic fertilizer has greatly increased agricultural production globally—helping to feed a global population that is not slowing down—it has brought with it high environmental costs. Fertilizer runoff has polluted many coastal regions creating ‘dead zones’ where the ocean is starved of oxygen by the influx of nitrogen. Synthetic fertilizers have also polluted the air with ammonia, and sent emissions of nitrous oxide into the atmosphere, contributing to global warming. Due to its negative affect on the environment, synthetic fertilizer have acquired a bad name in certain circles, leading some researchers to call for reduction in the use of synthetic fertilizers. However, a new study in Science urges a case-by-case approach to synthetic fertilizer use.

Corn fields in China: a new study finds that Chinese farmers are using far more synthetic fertilizer than is necessary. "Some parts of the world, including much of China, use far too much fertilizer," lead author and biology professor at Stanford University, Peter Vitousek says. "But in sub-Saharan Africa, where 250 million people remain chronically malnourished, nitrogen, phosphorus and other nutrient inputs are inadequate to maintain soil fertility."

Read more:
What is the crop productivity and environmental impact of too much or too little fertilizer?

Posted using ShareThis

Plant of the Day - Ginkgo biloba

Ginkgo biloba
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba; in Chinese 銀杏, pinyin romanization, yín xìng), also known as the Maidenhair Tree after Adiantum, is a unique species of tree with no close living relatives. The ginkgo is classified in its own division, the Ginkgophyta, comprising the single class Ginkgoopsida, order Ginkgoales, family Ginkgoaceae, genus Ginkgo and is the only extant species within this group. It is one of the best-known examples of a living fossil, because Ginkgoales other than G. biloba are not known from the fossil record after the Pliocene.[1][3]

For centuries it was thought to be extinct in the wild, but is now known to grow in at least two small areas in Zhejiang province in Eastern China, in the Tian Mu Shan Reserve. However, recent studies indicate high genetic uniformity among ginkgo trees from these areas, arguing against a natural origin of these populations and suggesting that the ginkgo trees in these areas may have been planted and preserved by Chinese monks over a period of about 1000 years.[4] Whether native ginkgo populations still exist has not been demonstrated unequivocally and is therefore uncertain.

Read more:

China Nutrifruit Appoints Three Independent Directors, Enhances Corporate Governance

DAQING CITY, China, June 15 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ --

China Nutrifruit Group Limited, (OTC Bulletin Board: CNGL), ("China Nutrifruit" or "the Company"), a leading producer of premium specialty fruit based products in the People's Republic of China ("PRC"), announced today that the Company appointed Mr. Tony Chun Wai Chan, Mr. William Haus, and Mr. Jingfu Li as independent board members at its board meeting held on June 11, 2009, effective immediately. With these additions, China Nutrifruit's board of directors is now comprised of five directors, three of whom are independent. The Company also adopted a code of ethics and established audit, compensation and corporate governance and nominating committees.

Mr. Tony Chun Wai Chan has extensive experience in general assurance and business advisory services in both Hong Kong and China. Moreover, Mr. Chan has over 10 years of experience working with public companies listed in Hong Kong and Singapore, mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance. Mr. Chan is a Certified Public Accountant in Hong Kong and Australia. Since 2004, Mr. Chan has served as a director in Yeung, Chan and Associates CPA Limited. He has a Bachelor's degree in accounting and information systems from the University of New South Wales and holds a Master's degree in business administration from the University of
Manchester. Mr. Chan is the independent non-executive director of three public companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange: Hans Energy Company Limited; Honbridge Holdings Limited and Wai Chun Mining Industry Group Company Limited. He will serve as the chairman of China Nutrifruit's newly formed audit committee and governance and nominating committee.

Mr. William Haus, age 45, has extensive experience working with public companies in the areas of business and finance, including China-based companies. Since August 2008, Mr. Haus has been the CEO and director of CS China Acquisition Corporation, a special purpose acquisition corporation focused on effecting a business combination with a China-based private company. Over the past 8 years, Mr. Haus has worked in a variety of roles in analyzing and evaluating companies as potential investments. From September 2005 to May 2008, Mr. Haus was an analyst for The Pinnacle Fund and The Pinnacle China Fund, hedge funds focused on investment opportunities in the United States and China. Prior to that, he served in senior equity analyst positions in the area of healthcare information technology and pharmaceutical outsourcing at securities brokerage firms Stanford Group Company and Advest. Mr. Haus graduated from the State University of New York College at Fredonia with a B.S. in business administration and a B.A. in economics and received a Master of Business Administration from Boston University. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and member of the CFA Institute. Mr. Haus is also independent director of China Valves Technology, Inc. listed on Over-the-Counter Bulletin Board. Mr. Haus will serve as the chairman of China Nutrifruit's newly formed compensation committee.

Read more: