Michael Major

A Traveller's Eye, A Thinker's Heart

Science Writing

I write blog posts for fun. But I write about agriculture and the environment for clients. I get paid to do so. But it’s fun as well … and important to share the important work that my clients support. Here are some feature stories I’ve recently written for three clients.

Crop Trust

From Genebank Shelves To Farmers’ Fields In Pakistan2025
It’s Peanut Butter Jelly Time2025
The Wow Potatoes of Kenya2025
Plan B for Backup: Sweetpotato Seeds Go to Svalbard2025
Zimbabwe’s Crop Diversity Secured in Svalbard2025
Keeping Malan Alive in Central Kalimantan2024
Breaking the Stigma of Grasspea in South Asia2024
A BOLD Future for Alfalfa: More with Less Water2023
Global Guardians of Potato Diversity2023
More than Rice: An Inside Look at the Vietnam National Genebank2023
Kenyan Farmers Welcome “Exotic” Sorghum2023
Farmers in Mali Go Wild for Sorghum2023
Exchanging Crop Diversity Safely, the CGIAR Way2022
Tracing the Ancestry of Groundnuts in Malawi2022
Cowpeas in Nigeria Can Trace Ancestry to Genebanks2022
Revival and Survival of Repatriated Potato Landraces in the Andes2022
Perfecting the Potato, With Help From Peru’s Farmers2021
Cowpea: How to Make a Hardy Crop Even Tougher2020
Hari Upadhyaya: The Fearless Breeder in the Genebank2020
Building Capacity in Collecting and Conserving Crop Wild Relatives2020
Potatoes for a Changing Climate2020
The Last Crop Before the Desert2020
GreenPass puts germplasm distribution in the fast lane2020
Seed Summit Highlights Need for Genetic Diversity2020
Expanding and Improving Genesys2020
Potato diversity leads to economic gain in Uganda2020
Selection by Stone2019
Chapatis of Pearl Millet for a Changing Climate2019
Beyond Hummus2019
Chilling Out for Conservation2019
Tracing High-iron Beans to the Genebank2019
Early Flowering African Rice Beats the Heat2019
Pre-Breeding Work With Grasspea and Finger Millet Gets a Boost2019
Vania Azevedo: A Fighter for Plant Genetic Resources2019
David Ellis: Finding the balance between manager and scientist2019
Wild relatives of pearl millet can take the heat2019
Pre-breeders go wild in Rabat2019
Understanding Nagoya2019
Ahmed Amri: From Morocco to Syria … and back again2019
Back to where they came from2019
Daniel Debouck: The Man Who Knows His Beans2018
The Women Finger Millet Advocates of Western Kenya2018
Durum Wheat Pre-Breeding for Food Security2018
Regenerating Wild Crop Relatives in the Fertile Crescent2018
Securing East Africa’s Cassava2018
Maruti – The Pigeonpea Savior2018
Cracking the Problem of Tree Seeds2018
The Bean That Could Withstand Hurricanes2018
More Than Just Passport Data Now Available on Genesys2018
The Vavilov Collection Connection2018
Adding new diversity into an ancient crop2018
Taming the Wild Pigeonpea2018
Sharing Brazilian plant germplasm data globally2018
Wild cousins of finger millet show promise of parasite resistance2018
Pre-breeding data available on Germinate 32018
Ruaraidh Sackville Hamilton: Learning new ways to maintain and use valuable resources2018
Spreading the word about CWR in Pakistan2018
Genebank Platform holds first Annual Genebank Meeting2017
Phytosanitary Awareness Week focuses on role of CGIAR germplasm health units2017
Jean Hanson: Building the next generation of genebank managers2017

International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA)

From Fields to Bakeries: How Liberian Farmers Are Transforming Cowpeas into Profits2025
Adding value to cooking melons in Botswana2024
Adding value to local crops in The Gambia2024
Smallholders in sub-Saharan Africa learn biochar production to boost soil health2024
Helping smallholders grow more and better rice in Sierra Leone2024
Making couscous from sorghum in Togo2024
Scientists create new framework for food security analysis in UAE2023
Salicornia research at ICBA reaches important milestones2023
Quinoa genotype from ICBA gets go-ahead for cultivation in Tajikistan2022
New study sheds more light on plant growth-regulating compounds2022
Climate scientists create new framework for climate risk assessment2022

Cultivate Communications

Stay tuned … full list coming soon … but here’s a few to start

Waterproofing Data: Pollinators in data gardens2023
TRUEPATH: Achieving a triple bottom line in agricultural frontiers2023
Uncloaking the invisibility of groundwater2023
Gold Matters: Co-labouring to visualize transformation in mining worlds2023
2021 Annual Report of the International Water Management Institute
(wrote the eight feature stories)		2022
Planning for drought in MENA2022
Toward gender equality and inclusion2022
Building refugee resilience in East Africa through reusing resources2021
Finding the economic value of irrigation water in the Nile Basin to enhance water saving2021
Water availability concerns surface as irrigation area in Nile Basin projected to increase significantly by 20502021
How smarter water management can help strengthen food security for the 500 million people who call the Nile Basin home2021
Fifty years of cassava breeding2021
When is choice empowering?2021
The golden eggs that keep on giving2021
RTB crops surge in developing countries2021
The potato of the future: Opportunities and challenges in sustainable agri-food systems2021
Rice-potato rotations increase profitability and food production2021
CIP’s 50th Anniversary Celebrates Andean Agrobiodiversity2021
Breaking through the 40% adoption ceiling: mind the seed system gaps2021