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Big-data project aims to transform farming in world's poorest countries
24 Sept, 2018
A coalition including the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and national governments has launched a US$500-million effort to help developing countries gather data on small-scale farmers to help fight hunger and promote rural development. The programme, which will run through 2030, aims to fill a yawning information gap about what an estimated 500 million farmers living in poverty are doing across 50 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-06800-8
World's first floating farm will house 40 cows and be hurricane-resistant
24 Sept, 2018
The Dutch company Beladon is opening the world's first floating dairy farm in the Netherlands. Located in Rotterdam, the farm will house 40 cows in a high-tech facility on the water. The farm will produce an average of 211 gallons of milk each day. Most of the cows' food will come from city waste products, such as grains left over from local breweries and by-products from mills. The farm's bottom level will feature machinery for processing and packaging the dairy. The cows will be on the second level, along with robots for milking. Beladon will use the third level to grow clover and grass for the cows to eat.
https://www.businessinsider.in/The-worlds-first-floating-farm-will-house-40-cows-and-be-hurricane-resistant/articleshow/65936721.cms
Early sowing can increase cotton yield: Study
20 Sept, 2018
A team of Indian scientists have predicted that the yield of cotton can be maximised if the crop is sown early (by mid-May) and irrigated during ball formation and maturity stages in case of drought conditions. They identified the stages of cotton plant sensitive to water availability by simulation techniques.
https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/agriculture/early-sowing-can-increase-cotton-yield-study-61688
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CLIMATE CHANGE
Marshall Islands marches toward zero greenhouse emissions by 2050
25 Sept, 2018
The Marshall Islands, an atoll-nation vulnerable to sea level rise from climate change, announced steps towards an ambitious plan to cut its greenhouse emissions to zero by 2050. The Pacific country became the first small island nation to present such a strategy to the United Nations amid increasing interest from governments worldwide toward eliminating planet-warming emissions in a bid to curb man-made climate change.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-climatechange-summit/marshall-islands-marches-toward-zero-greenhouse-emissions-by-2050-idUSKCN1M42GI
New Zealand boosts climate funding for Pacific
25 Sept,
2018
New Zealand says it will stump up $NZ300 million ($A275 million) for global climate change work over four years as its government continues to press the need for a trans-Tasman focus on the Pacific. The funding will go towards efforts in the Pacific such as helping Tokelau reduce the risk of coastal inundation and water security in the region.
https://www.news.com.au/world/breaking-news/nz-boosts-climate-funding-for-pacific/news-story/f3fb9d025312f28566c70374ec424248
Climate change is making hurricanes way more intense
17 Sept,
2018
A warmer world makes for nastier hurricanes. Scientists say they are wetter, possess more energy and intensify faster. Their storm surges are more destructive because climate change has already made the seas rise. And lately, the storms seem to be stalling more often and thus dumping more rain. Study after study shows that climate change, in general, makes hurricanes worse.
https://nypost.com/2018/09/17/climate-change-is-making-hurricanes-way-more-intense/
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DROUGHTS
Cities warned to improve water basin resilience to prevent droughts, floods
19 Sept,
2018
The report "Cities Alive: Water for People" claims that cities need to expand their water infrastructure to include the entire river basin on which they depend. It finds that while the world’s 100 largest cities occupy less than 1 percent of the planet’s land area, the basins they depend on cover over 12 percent and serve almost a billion people. Water basins are vital for supplying cities with water as well as collecting all the surface water and groundwater in the area.
https://eandt.theiet.org/content/articles/2018/09/cities-must-improve-resilience-of-water-basin-to-prevent-droughts-and-flooding-report-warns/
Drought-hit Australian farmers forced to slaughter livestock
27 Sept, 2018
From cooling showers for cows to airport runways designed for higher sea levels, businesses and parts of Australia’s A$2.7 trillion ($2 trillion) pension industry are starting to find ways to live with rising temperatures. Australia’s latest climate casualties are its farmers, who are being forced to slaughter livestock and watch crops wither amid one of the worst droughts on record. Economists estimate the drought could cut as much as 0.75 per cent from gross domestic product growth.
https://theprint.in/economy/drought-hit-australian-farmers-forced-to-slaughter-livestock/125757/
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FLOODS
'Medicane' Zorba: Three missing in Greece as cyclone brings flash flooding and heavy rain
1 Oct,
2018
Three people have been reported missing Greece after a rare and powerful Mediterranean storm known brought gale-force winds and flash flooding to several parts of the country. Known as a medicane - a combination of the words Mediterranean and hurricane - storm Zorba has mostly affected areas on the island of Evia, east of mainland Greece, where a young man and a middle aged couple were reported missing.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/greece-medicane-weather-latest-missing-persons-flash-floods-mediterranean-islands-athens-a8562201.html
Hurricane Rosa weakens to tropical storm on way to Baja, Southwest US
1 Oct, 2018
Hurricane Rosa weakened into a tropical storm Sunday as it headed toward northwest Mexico and parts of the US Southwest, prompting storm warnings for the Baja California coast and flash-flood watches for parts of four US states. The US National Hurricane Center said Rosa should hit the Baja California Peninsula and Sonora state late Monday as a tropical storm with flooding rains.
https://indianexpress.com/article/world/rosa-weakens-to-tropical-storm-on-way-to-baja-southwest-us-5380706/
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FOOD SECURITY
World Bank’s latest tool for fighting famine: Artificial intelligence
24 Sept, 2018
In an effort to harness technology to help prevent famines, the World Bank partnered with global technology firms, U.N. agencies, and humanitarian organizations to develop the Famine Action Mechanism, or FAM — the first global mechanism that is dedicated to preventing future famines. Through a new model called Artemis, it will use the predictive power of data as an early warning system to identify when food crises might turn into famines— generating alerts for funding and action plans by donors, governments and humanitarian agencies.
https://www.devex.com/news/tech-companies-join-in-effort-to-help-prevent-famine-93476
World hunger is on the rise for the third year in a row
13 Sept, 2018
For decades, improvements in agricultural practices and food distribution steadily decreased hunger rates in nations across the globe. But Jason Beaubien at NPR reports that progress has been bumped off the tracks. New data, put together by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and other agencies, finds that for the third year in a row, hunger has increased across the world.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/world-hunger-rise-third-year-row-180970281/
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IRRIGATION
Subsidies on irrigation efficiency may negatively affect water use: study
6 Sept,
2018
A new study has pointed out that increased irrigation efficiency does not translate into more water availability for other uses at the watershed level. The subsidies for increasing irrigation efficiency are intended to increase crop production as well as more return flow from irrigated areas that can be allocated to urban, domestic and industrial uses. But this does not seem to be happening.
https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/agriculture/subsidies-on-irrigation-efficiency-may-negatively-affect-water-use-study-61545
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WATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Liquid metal discovery to make toxic water safe and drinkable
25 Sept, 2018
UNSW and RMIT researchers have discovered a revolutionary and cheap way to make filters that can turn water contaminated with heavy metals into safe drinking water in a matter of minutes. In a paper published in Advanced Functional Materials, lead author Dr. Ali Zavabeti (RMIT) and Professor Kalantar-zadeh explained that when a chunk of aluminium is added to the core of liquid gallium at room temperature, layers of aluminium oxide are quickly produced at the surface of the gallium.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/09/180925140522.htm
ADB approves $500 mn for Tamil Nadu water supply, sewerage, drainage infra
26 Sept, 2018
The board of directors of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved financing of up to $500 million for a multi-tranche financing facility (MFF) that will develop climate-resilient water supply, sewerage, and drainage infrastructure in at least 10 cities in Tamil Nadu state in India. The country's first solar-powered sewage treatment plant on a pilot basis will also be part of the programme.
https://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/adb-approves-500-mn-for-tamil-nadu-water-supply-sewerage-drainage-infra-118092500392_1.html
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FORTHCOMING EVENTS
Global Water Security for Agriculture and Natural Resources (GWSAN), 3-6 October 2018, Hyderabad, India: An ASABE Global Initiative Conference.
Website: http://www.asabewater.org/
5th International Symposium on Dam Safety, 27-31 October 2018, Istanbul, Turkey
Website: http://www.damsafety2018.com/
9th International Micro Irrigation Conference (9IMIC), 16-18 January 2019, Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India on the theme: Micro Irrigation in Modern Agriculture.
Website: http://micro-irrigation2019.com/
International Dam Safety Conference 2019, 13-14 February 2019, Bhubaneshwar, Odisha, India
Website: www.damsafety.in/idsc2019
3rd World Irrigation Forum (WIF3) and 70th International Executive Council Meeting, 1-7 September 2019, Bali, Indonesia on the theme: Development for water, food and nutrition security in a competitive environment.
Website: http://www.icid2019.org/
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LATEST PUBLICATION(S)
Water Productivity Mapping of Major Indian Crops 2018, published by NABARD
The study on Water Productivity Mapping of Major Indian Crops presents for the first time, maps on the water productivity of ten major Indian crops across cultivating districts and states. It builds on the expectation that if key decisions regarding irrigation, cropping patterns, input pricing, and incentive structures are predicated on water productivity of crops, it would ensure that water in agriculture is distributed more widely, water-use efficiency is enhanced, and Indian agriculture becomes more sustainable and productive in the long run. Thus, the study seeks to inform targeted policies and investment interventions for meeting the twin objectives of har khet ko pani (water to every field) and ‘more crop per drop’. The report will encourage policy makers to take note of and trigger an effective response to the looming water crisis faced by the agriculture sector in India. The book has been released as an Open Access and may be downloaded @ https://bit.ly/2Q6OUZg
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