pcplantdb

[Richard Morris <webmaster@pfaf.org>]

Graham Burnett wrote:
> Hi all, esp any HDRA policy makers who might be looking in- I got a mailshot
> from HDRA today asking for donations to help fund their database project-
> two things occured to me- Plants For A Future already have an extensive
> database online of edible and useful plants, also the Seeds of Kokopelli
> book lists literally thousands of varieties of hundreds of vegetables, which
> presumably are also on a database- would it not make sense for HDRA to join
> forces with these existing projects in order to save re-inventing the wheel?

Sounds very interesting, it would be nice to know a bit more about this.
I did a quick search on their website and nothing turned up :-(.

Most of the plant databases online seem to have different focuses
with different target audiences so I don't think that
it would be a case of reinventing the wheel. In particular
the pfaf datatabase is week on traditional crops and does not
really attempt to cover the many varities available.
I guess there could be a great oportunity for colaboration
on this.

> Also i can't help but feel that both Kokopelli & PFAF worked on budgets that
> are considerably less than the 100 grand HDRA are prediucting it will
> cost...

If you cost up the time put in I'd say 100 grand is quite
realistic. I'd suspect that about 10 man years of time
have been put into the database from Ken, myself and
several others. At about £20K/year that puts the production
cost of the database at about 200 grand!

I spy an ideal time to do a bit of fundraising.
You can help the Plants For A Future project by joining
"Friends of Plants For A Future" our official membership scheme
        http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/pfaf/friends.html
or by making a donation online through our paypal system
https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=webmaster%40pfaf.org&item_name=Donation

        All the best

                Rich

--
Plants for a Future: 7000 useful plants
Web:   http://www.pfaf.org/ same as http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/pfaf/
Post:  1 Lerryn View, Lerryn, Lostwithiel, Cornwall, PL22 0QJ
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Email: webmaster@pfaf.org
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