Bitter gourd bounty – second of a series on our wonderful world of vegetables
This tells the story of the bitter gourd, from its origins in Africa and its spread to Asia and beyond, its economic significance, health benefits and its importance to cultures and cuisines, before ending with the achievements of WorldVeg in breeding better bitter gourd!
Outside Asia, people may have seen what look like big warty or prickly cucumbers in shops and market stalls selling ‘exotic’ foods. But everyone in South, East and Southeast Asia knows bitter gourd as a healthy, tasty, popular vegetable. It’s also a hugely important crop for at least a billion people, economically, nutritionally, and medicinally. The bitter gourd market is expanding rapidly, and quality bitter gourd seed is in high demand by farmers. But, due to the low genetic diversity among common cultivars, new traits need to be introduced into breeding populations to develop new and improved varieties with better taste, higher yields and nutritional content, and greater resistance to pests and diseases.
Read the full story: Bitter gourd bounty, a gift for wellness
The first of the series on the wonderful world of vegetables – A capsicum chronicle – is also available in French, Spanish and Chinese, see A capsicum chronicle – first of a new popular series on our favorite vegetables – World Vegetable Center (avrdc.org)
WORLDVEG IN THE NEWS
[Video] Da Ai Journal: Doomsday Ark (English/Mandarin)
Da Ai Televetion｜Taiwan, January 2024
[Video] OUR ISLAND: Seed exchange and conservation (English/Mandarin)
PTS, February 2023
[Video] Seed conservation and Breeding-2 (English/Mandarin)
Formosa TV, February 2023
[Video] Seed conservation and Breeding-1 (English/Mandarin)
Formosa TV, February 2023
New partnership agreement signed to improve global nutrition and food security ACIAR, February 2023
AFACI Newsletter Issue No. 22.
AFACI Newsletter, January – December 2022
[Video] PROJET NUTRIFOOD: Dr. Marco WOPEREIS visite le jardin scolaire de Goulo-Sodji à Zè (French)
AgricoTV, April 2022
Low-Cost Solar Dryers Yield Sustainable Incomes to Marginal Farmers of Koraput District in Odisha.
ICRISAT Happenings Newsletter, April 2022
Audience au Ministère de l’Agriculture, de l’Elevage et de la Pêche du Benin: World Vegetable Center porte le projet d’un symposium (French).
Benin ODD TV, April 2022
Team of scientists from Taiwan visits Nagaon
The Sentinel, April 2022
Interview with Edmond Totin, WorldVeg Project Manager for SAFEVEG on Climate Change in Africa (French)
UN News, April 2022
Why Seedbank Aren’t Just for Doomsday
BBC Future, April 2022
The scientists helping farmers kick the chemical habit
AFP, March 2022 – Published in France24, RFI, MSN, Global Times and others
Sharing Knowledge for Self-Sufficiency – International Aid in Fruit and Vegetable Production
Taiwan Panorama, February 2022
Pressing for policies that promote “forgotten foods”
Grow Further, 9 December 2021
Cherry tomatoes
KU Research Weekly, 2 December 2021
The fight of mushrooms in farmland. Biotechnology at the service of humanity
Spark Chronicles, 29 November 2021
Asia and Pacific Seed Association (APSA) recognizes 2021’s five ‘most influential’ seed scientists in Asia-Pacific
Seed Quest, 19 November 2021
Un plan mundial para conservar la diversidad de frutas y hortalizas
A en verde, 10 November 2021
European donor delegation discusses partnerships for greater impact delivery in Malian agriculture
ICRISAT Happenings, 15 October 2021
