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Giant Farming Robots | Earth Wise

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Farmers are perpetually engaged in a battle against weeds, which can strangle crops and destroy their yields.  There are basically two ways to fight weeds:  spraying herbicides that are bad for the environment and human health or using human labor to pull the weeds by hand. 

Both choices are increasingly undesirable.  Herbicide resistance is a growing problem facing farms around the world and widespread labor shortages in the agricultural sector are making it increasingly difficult to use human resources to combat weeds.

A startup company called FarmWise founded by an MIT engineering alumnus is providing a third option for farmers.  The company has developed giant autonomous weeding robots that use artificial intelligence to cut out weeds without damaging crops.

The company’s first product is called the Titan.  It looks like a large tractor without a driver’s seat.  It uses machine vision to distinguish weeds from crop plants like leafy greens, cauliflower, artichokes, and tomatoes.  It snips off the weeds with sub-inch precision.

Fifteen titan robots have been roaming the fields of 30 large farms in California and Arizona for several years.  A newer robot, called the Vulcan, is more lightweight and is pulled by a tractor.  FarmWise continues to add new crops to its database so that the robots can be used to fight weeds in more and more kinds of farms.

Weed problems are especially acute for farmers of specialty crops, which grow on smaller farms than corn and soybeans, and have unique growing practices, which limit the effectiveness of chemical and technical solutions. 

The overall goal of FarmWise is to turn artificial intelligence into a tool that is as reliable and dependable as GPS is now in the farming industry.

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Titanic robots make farming more sustainable

Photo, posted August 23, 2021, courtesy of Carol VanHook via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Chocolate And Deforestation | Earth Wise

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The world consumes 7.5 million tons of chocolate a year.   Americans spend an average of $145 a year per capita on chocolate.  And we are not even the world leaders.  The Swiss eat an average of 22 pounds per person and the overall European chocolate market is the world’s largest.

A market valued over $100 billion a year is bound to have its issues for the environment, human rights, and other social issues, and chocolate is no exception.  The global cacao industry grapples with problems with child labor, poverty, deforestation, sustainability and other environmental issues.  The response of companies across the industry varies greatly. A website called chocolatescorecard.com keeps track of how many in the industry are doing.

Recently, lawmakers in the European Union have been putting together a landmark legislative package that addresses deforestation risks in the supply chains of a number of commodities including cattle, timber, rubber, soy, palm oil, and cacao. The proposed law restricts companies that import cacao and sell chocolate to import only what doesn’t destroy or degrade forests. 

Voluntary promises by big chocolate makers to save forests in major cacao-producing countries (like Ivory Coast, Ghana, Indonesia, and Nigeria) are difficult to keep.  Farmers sell to brokers who sell to trading companies that then sell to chocolate makers.  Tracing the origins of chocolate is difficult.  Ultimately, fairly compensating farmers is the only way they are likely comply with deforestation regulations and there are unfortunately many pockets to fill before that is likely to happen.

It is up to consumers to encourage companies to do the right thing by making their buying choices appropriately.

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The Forest in Your Chocolate

The Chocolate Scorecard

Photo, posted January 12, 2010, courtesy of Lee McCoy via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Perennial Rice | Earth Wise

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People have been cultivating rice for more than 9,000 years.  Cultivated rice is an annual crop which is often extended to two crops a year by a process called ratooning, which is cutting back annual rice to obtain a second, weaker harvest.

An extensive project involving multiple institutions in China, the U.S., and Australia has been developing perennial rice.  The researchers developed it through hybridization, crossing a type of Asian domesticated annual rice with a wild perennial rice from Africa.  Using modern genetic tools to identify candidate plants, the team identified a promising hybrid in 2007, planted large-scale field experiments in 2016, and released the first commercial perennial rice variety, called PR23, in 2018.

The researchers spent five years studying the performance of the perennial rice alongside annual rice on farms in China’s Yunnan Province.  For the most part, the yield of the perennial rice was equivalent to that of annual rice over a period of four years. 

Because farmers don’t have to plant rice each season, growing perennial rice requires almost 60% less labor and saves nearly half the costs of seed, fertilizer, and other inputs.

Perennial rice is already changing the lives of more than 55,000 smallholder farmers in southern China and Uganda.  The economic benefits vary by location, but overall profit increases ranged from 17% to 161% over annual rice.

There are already three perennial rice varieties available to farmers, but researchers aren’t done refining the crop.  They plan to use their methodology to enhance traits such as aroma, disease resistance, and drought tolerance to newer versions.

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Farmers in China, Uganda move to high-yielding, cost-saving perennial rice

Photo, posted February 25, 2002, courtesy of Matthieu Lelievre via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

El Paso’s Water Future | Earth Wise

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El Paso, Texas is part of the Paso del Norte region, which includes Ciudad Juarez in Mexico and Las Cruces, New Mexico.  The population on both sides of the border is booming, approaching 3 million people.  The region’s primary water source is the Rio Grande River.  But that river is declining.

Rising temperatures and decreasing rainfall have led to diminishing flow in the river.  Eighty percent of the river’s flow has historically been diverted to agriculture, but the reduced flow of the Rio Grande has forced many farmers to reduce planting or change to less water-hungry crops.  The river is expected to continue to decrease its flow as time goes by.

The city of El Paso gets 40% of its water supply directly from the Rio Grande.  Urban water authorities in the region are scrambling to find ways to provide cities with alternative supplies of water.

El Paso now gets some of its water from a desalination plant, which is the world’s largest inland municipal desalination plant.  The water comes from brackish groundwater rather than from the sea.  The briny waste from the plant is piped to an injection well many miles way and is permanently stored 4,000 feet underground.

El Paso continues to seek new water sources and reduce its water use.  It gets much of its water from wells drilled in nearby aquifers.  It is working to make this use of groundwater more sustainable.  The city recycles used residential water through its so-called purple pipe system, which cleans up waste water and delivers it for non-potable use on golf courses and park lawns. 

Like many places in the increasingly dry west, El Paso’s water future is uncertain. 

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As Rio Grande Shrinks, El Paso Plans for Uncertain Water Future

Photo, posted April 29, 2018, courtesy of R. Baire via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

A Bad Year For California Rice | Earth Wise

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Rice production is the third largest cereal crop in the United States after corn and wheat.  Four regions in the country produce almost the entire U.S. rice crop:  the Arkansas Grand Prairie, the Mississippi Delta, the Gulf Coast, and the Sacramento Valley in California.  Arkansas is the largest producer of rice in the country by far, but California ranks second.

A combination of drought and water shortages in the Sacramento Valley has taken a major toll on the California rice crop.  This year, rice growers have only planted half as much grain as usual.  The changes in rice plantings in California are so substantial that they are easily visible from space.

In Colusa and Glenn counties, rice acreage this year dropped by 84 and 75 percent respectively, compared to 2021.  Farther to the east, in Butte Country, rice acreage was down by 17%.  The change was smaller there because farmers in that county had more groundwater to tap into.

According to the USDA, the California rice crop will be reduced by 38% this year, making it the smallest rice crop in the state since 1977.  California mostly grows short- and medium-grained rice, which is used in dishes like sushi, paella, and risotto.  Arkansas and other states produce most of the long-grain rice such as basmati and jasmine rice.

In late September, there was a burst of rain, which offered some short-term relief for farmers.  However, it will take much more wet weather to ease the ongoing drought conditions.  As of the end of September, over 40% of California remained in extreme drought and 17% was in exceptional drought.

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A Rough Year for Rice in California

Photo, posted March 21, 2020, courtesy of Ajay Suresh via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Prospects For Floating Solar | Earth Wise

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Countries are trying to figure out how to get enough energy from solar and wind generation to completely decarbonize their economies.  According to some estimates, nations might have to devote between half a percent and five percent of their land area to solar panels to get the job done.  Half a percent is about the amount of the U.S. that is covered by paved roads.  While there is lots of open land in many parts of the country, covering it with solar panels might not be acceptable to farmers, conservationists, or other interested parties.

One way to deploy more solar panels without using up land is the use of floating solar panels.  Floating photovoltaic systems – also known as floatovoltaics – are becoming increasingly common, especially in Asia.  This year, China installed one of the largest floatovoltaic systems in the world on a reservoir near the city of Dezhou.

Floating solar panels stay cooler and run more efficiently than those on land.  The panels also help prevent evaporation from their watery homes and the shading they provide also help to minimize algal blooms.  Solar installations on reservoirs generally puts them near cities, making it easier to feed power into urban grids.

On the other hand, floating solar systems need to be able to withstand water and waves and are generally more expensive to build than land-based systems.

At present, the installed global capacity of floating solar is only about 3 gigawatts, compared with more than 700 gigawatts of land-based systems. However, reservoirs around the world collectively cover an area about the size of France.  Covering just 10 percent of them with floating solar could produce as much power as all the fossil-fuel plants in operation worldwide.

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Solar Takes a Swim

Photo, posted March 7, 2019, courtesy of Hedgerow INC via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

The Atmosphere Is Thirstier | Earth Wise      

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The American West is in the throes of a two-decade-long drought.  The climate there is getting warmer and drier, which has led to increasing demand for water resources from both humans and ecosystems.  According to a new study by the Desert Research Institute and collaborators, the atmosphere across much of the U.S. is also demanding a greater share of water than it used to.

Evaporative demand, which is also called atmospheric thirst, is a measure of the potential loss of water from the earth’s surface up to the atmosphere.  It is a function of temperature, humidity, wind speed, and solar radiation.  The study, published in the Journal of Hydrometeorology, assessed trends in evaporative demand during a 40-year period from 1980-2020.

The study’s findings showed substantial increases in atmospheric thirst across much of the Western U.S. over that period, with the largest increases centered around the Rio Grande and Lower Colorado rivers.  This is important because atmospheric thirst is a persistent force in pushing Western landscapes and water supplies toward drought.

The study found that, on average, increases in temperature were responsible for 57% of the changes observed in atmospheric thirst, humidity 26%, and the other factors playing lesser roles.

For farmers and other water users, increases in atmospheric thirst mean that, in the future, more water will be required to meet existing water needs.  Crops already require more water than they did in the past and can be expected to require more water in the future.  Over time, for every drop of precipitation that falls, less and less water is likely to drain into streams, wetlands, aquifers, or other water bodies.

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New study shows robust increases in atmospheric thirst across much of U.S. during past 40 years

Photo, posted August 9, 2007, courtesy of William Clifford via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

A Historic Western Drought | Earth Wise

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The American Southwest has suffered from drought conditions since the year 2000.  The drought has reduced water supplies, devastated farmers and ranchers, and it has helped to fuel numerous wildfires across the region.  It has generally been considered to be worst in 500 years.

According to a recent analysis, the drought has become so severe that it has actually led to the driest two decades in at least 1,200 years and the changing climate is largely responsible.  The summer of 2021 was especially dry; about 2/3 of the West was in severe drought conditions.

Scientists at UCLA used tree ring data to gauge drought.  Based on that analysis, 2000-2021 is the driest 22-year period since 800 A.D. which is as far back as the data goes.

The study confirmed the role of temperature, more than precipitation, in driving exceptional droughts.  Precipitation levels can go up and down over time and can vary in different regions.  But the ongoing emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere are causing temperatures to generally rise over time.  Warmer temperatures make the air more capable of pulling water out of the soil, out of vegetation, out of crops, and out of forests.  All of that makes drought conditions more severe.

A megadrought is generally considered to be one that is both severe and long.  But even during one, there can be wet years.  2005 was a notable one.  But there must be enough consecutive wet years to actually end a drought.

Several previous megadroughts over the past 1,200 years lasted as long as 30 years.  So, the current drought is in full swing and may go on for a long time to come.

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How Bad Is the Western Drought? Worst in 12 Centuries, Study Finds.

Photo, posted September 25, 2021, courtesy of David Sierralupe via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Corn Ethanol And The Climate | Earth Wise

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The Renewable Fuel Standard legislation, first passed in 2005 and updated in 2007, requires billions of gallons of renewable fuel to be added to the country’s transportation fuel supplies.  It created the world’s largest biofuels program.

The standard was hailed as a major victory for the climate as well as a way to reduce our dependence upon foreign oil.

The intent of the legislation was to encourage various forms of renewable fuels – especially cellulosic ethanol from plant and wood fiber – to become an increasing part of the fuel mix.  That has yet to happen.  Instead, corn ethanol has been the backbone of the program.

Back in 2007, the EPA determined that ethanol from corn would lead to a 20% reduction in greenhouse gases compared to gasoline.  But the next year, a study published in the journal Nature projected that corn ethanol would double greenhouse gas emissions over 30 years because demand for corn would drive farmers to plow up increasing amounts of carbon-rich forest and grassland.

A new study published by researchers at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, has again concluded that corn-based ethanol may actually be worse for the climate than fossil-based gasoline as well as having other environmental downsides.  According to the study, since the fuel standard was passed, farmers have expanded corn production on nearly 7 million acres each year, causing the conversion of lands to cropland.  The result is that the carbon intensity of corn ethanol could be as much as 24% higher than gasoline.

The issue is still being debated in Congress, but if these results are verified, the time has come to revamp the terms of the renewable fuel standard.

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Corn-Based Ethanol May Be Worse For the Climate Than Gasoline, a New Study Finds

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Photo, posted October 23, 2011, courtesy of the United Soybean Board via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Crops Threatened With Extinction | Earth Wise

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Crop variety and diversity are critically important for global food security as well as for the livelihoods of millions of people.  This diversity entails both the different species of food crops as well as the so-called farmer varieties of crops that in many cases have been cultivated and safeguarded for millennia.

It is well-known that many of these crops and varieties have been rapidly disappearing, but data has been scarce on just how many have been lost, how many we are losing, and which ones are the most threatened going forward.

A new study utilizes a methodology known as the Varietal Threat Index, which was developed by the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, the International Center for Tropical Agriculture.  The study assessed about 600 farmers from seven Indian states, covering five different agroecological areas.  The farmers were selected based on their knowledge of crops and varieties across the 17 study sites.

The farmers listed the crops and varieties grown in their households, noted their uses, and indicated their spread and abundance, including information on varieties grown during the previous ten years which were no longer grown.

The results of the study showed that while there is a significant diversity of landraces – which are local varieties of species developed over time – more than 50% are threatened.  The trend is that crops and varieties mostly used for consumption are most often under threat, whereas varieties with multiple uses are less likely to be threatened.

Studies of this type can aid the development of targets and indicators to monitor the global status of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture and help inform urgent priority conservation actions.

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More than half of surveyed crop varieties are under threat of extinction, according to study in India

Photo, posted February 21, 2014, courtesy of Atibordee Kongprepan via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Coffee And Climate Change | Earth Wise

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Over 2.25 billion cups of coffee are consumed in the world each day.  Americans spend $80 billion dollars a year on coffee.  Coffee in grown across 12.5 million largely smallholder farms in more than 50 countries.  In other words, coffee is a big deal.

Like many things, coffee is subject to the effects of climate change.  Many coffee-producing regions are experiencing changing climate conditions, which don’t only affect the yield and sustainability of the crop but have an impact on taste, aroma, and even dietary quality.  Coffee drinkers care very much about these things.

New research at Tufts University and Montana State University looked at how coffee quality can be affected by shifts in environmental factors associated with climate change.  The researchers looked at the effects of 10 prevalent environmental factors and management conditions associated with climate change and climate adaptation.

The most consistent trends were that farms at higher altitudes were associated with better coffee flavor and aroma, while too much light exposure was associated with a decrease in coffee quality.   They also found that coffee quality is also susceptible to changes due to water stress and increases in temperature and carbon dioxide levels.

They evaluated current efforts to mitigate these effects, including shade management, selection of climate resistant coffee plants and pest management. The hope is that if we can understand the science of the changes to the environment, it will help farmers and other stakeholders to better manage coffee production in the face of increasing challenges.   It will take a concerted effort to maintain coffee quality as the climate continues to change.

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Coffee and the Effects of Climate Change

Photo, posted May 22, 2009, courtesy of Olle Svensson via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

The Benefits Of No-Till Farming | Earth Wise

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No-till farming is not new.  In fact, it was used as far back as 10,000 years ago.  But during the 18th and 19th centuries, tilling became popular because it allowed farmers to plant seeds more efficiently.

Tilling (or ploughing) is the process of preparing the soil for the cultivation of seeds by overturning the soil.  The practice works animal manure, weeds, and other surface residues deep into the soil.  While this all sounds like a good thing, it’s not. 

Tilling removes plant matter and loosens the soil, leaving the soil bare and vulnerable to erosion.  Tilling also displaces the millions of microbes and insects that form healthy soil biology.  The long-term use of tilling can turn healthy soils into lifeless growing mediums dependent on chemical inputs.  

But no-till farming also tends to rely on chemical inputs like glyphosate for weed control.  According to a new study recently published in Agronomy Journal, researchers at Penn State have found that farmers using no-till farming can reduce herbicide use and still maintain crop yields by implementing integrated weed-management methods.   

The research team conducted a nine-year experiment using herbicide-reduction practices in a crop rotation, which included soybean, corn, alfalfa, and canola.  Some of the practices used to reduce herbicide inputs included seeding small-grain companion crops with perennials, and plowing once in six years to terminate the perennial forage rather than killing it with an herbicide. 

While there was more weed biomass in the reduced herbicide treatment, the researchers found that the added weed pressure did not substantially affect crop yields. 

It is possible to make agriculture more environmentally-friendly and sustainable without sacrificing productivity.

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No-till production farmers can cut herbicide use, control weeds, protect profits

Photo, posted February 11, 2019, courtesy of the United Soybean Board via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Seeds And Climate Change | Earth Wise

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Farmers and agricultural communities around the world are on the frontlines of climate change.  They are among the first to feel the impacts of hotter temperatures as well as more frequent and intense droughts and precipitation. These challenges pose a massive threat to both farmer livelihoods and global food security.

As the planet continues to heat up, many arid regions that already have marginal conditions for agriculture will be increasingly under stress. As a result, researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the King Mohammed VI Polytechnic University in Morocco are working on a promising new way to protect seeds from this stress during their crucial germination phase. Their simple and inexpensive process, which was recently described in a paper published in the journal Nature Food, also provides plants with extra nutrition at the same.

The research team has developed a two layer coating for seeds designed for tackling issues related to drought. Drawing inspiration from natural coatings that occur on some seeds like chia seeds, the first layer is designed to protect the seeds from drying out. It provides a gel-like coating that grips any moisture that comes along and surrounds the seed with it.  The second (inner) layer of the coating contains preserved microorganisms called rhizobacteria, as well as some nutrients to help the seeds grow. 

The materials for the coatings are biodegradable, readily-available, and often used in the food industry already.  According to researchers, early tests using common beans have demonstrated encouraging results in Morocco, and more field tests of the seeds are currently underway.

As the climate continues to change, more innovations like this will be necessary for global food security.

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Engineering seeds to resist drought

Photo, posted September 17, 2010, courtesy of Stacy via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Saving Coffee From Global Warming | Earth Wise

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The global coffee market is valued at over $450 billion a year and supports the economies of several tropical countries.  About 100 million farmers depend upon coffee for their livelihoods. 

Coffee bushes grow best in a narrow range of temperatures.  The existing coffee market is dominated by two species Coffea arabica and Coffea canephora, the latter commonly called robusta.  Arabica, the most preferred coffee, thrives in average temperatures between 64 and 72 degrees Fahrenheit.  Robusta does not flourish above 75 degrees.  Therefore, the warming climate is making growing coffee increasingly difficult.

There are actually well over 100 species of coffee.  Many of them grow in warmer places than those preferred by robusta and arabica, but are considered to have poorer flavors, smaller beans, and lower yields.

Researchers at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Britain came across a paper written in 1834 about a species of coffee from the lowland hills of Sierra Leone called Coffea stenophylla.  According to the paper, stenophylla supposedly has a flavor superior to arabica’s. 

It turns out that stenophylla still grows in parts of Africa with temperature ranges between 75 and 80 degrees.  It was actually farmed until the 1920s but was abandoned because robusta was found to have higher yields.

Extensive taste testing verified the positive attributes of stenophylla.  Whether it should be cultivated directly tolerating potential yield issues or crossbred with existing commercial coffees remains to be determined.  But the prospects for finding more heat tolerant coffees should be encouraging news for coffee addicts.

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How to save coffee from global warming

Photo, posted October 30, 2012, courtesy of Coffee Management Service via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Increasing Palm Oil Production Without Harming The Environment | Earth Wise

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Palm oil is the most important source of vegetable oil in the world.  The oil itself and ingredients based on it are found in approximately 50% of the products on supermarket shelves, including both food and non-food items.  Many of the mysterious chemicals that show up on ingredient lists such as sodium lauryl sulfate are actually derived from palm oil.

Dozens of countries produce palm oil, but about 2/3 of the world’s supply comes from Indonesia and the demand for its oil keeps growing.  To keep up with that demand, Indonesia continues to convert valuable ecosystems that contribute greatly to biodiversity to palm production.

A four-year research project at the University of Nebraska- Lincoln has found that keeping up with palm oil demand may not necessarily mean converting valuable, fragile ecosystems into agricultural land.  According to the study published in Nature Sustainability, palm oil yields on existing farms and plantations could be greatly increased with improved management practices.

The researchers identified key practices that could lead to larger yield.  These include improved harvest methods, better weed control, improved pruning, and better plant nutrition.  With such practices, Indonesia could produce 68% more palm oil on existing plantation areas.

The results were surprising to the researchers and are significant from both environmental and economic standpoints.  In particular, it could have a great impact on the millions of individual farmers who draw their livelihood from small palm farms often containing just a few acres.  In Indonesia, about 42% of land used for palm oil production is owned by smallholder farms.

The researchers are now working with various stakeholders in Indonesia to put these management techniques into practice.

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Husker research shows palm oil production can grow while protecting ecosystems

Photo, posted August 15, 2006, courtesy of Lian Pin Koh via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Climate Change And Farming Productivity | Earth Wise

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The future potential impacts of anthropogenic climate change on global agricultural systems has been well studied, but how human-caused climate change has already affected the agricultural sector is not as well understood.  But a new study led by researchers at Cornell University and supported by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture and the National Science Foundation examined this issue. 

Despite important agricultural breakthroughs in technology, fertilizer use and global trade during the past 60 years, it turns out that the climate crisis is already eroding farm productivity.  According to the study, which was recently published in the journal Nature Climate Change, global farming productivity is 21% lower than it could have been without climate change.  This is the equivalent of losing approximately seven years of farm productivity increases since the 1960s. 

The researchers developed a model linking annual changes in weather and productivity with output from the latest climate models over six decades to quantify the effect of anthropogenic climate change on what economists call “total factor productivity.” This measure captures the overall productivity of the agricultural sector. 

The research team reviewed 200 variations of the model, but the results remained largely consistent:  anthropogenic climate change is already slowing down global food production.  The researchers say the historical impacts of climate change have been larger in naturally warmer climates, like in parts of Africa, Asia, and Latin America.   

Climate change is not some distant problem to solve in the future.  It is already having an impact on the planet and it needs to be addressed now.

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Climate change cut global farming productivity 21% since 1960s

Photo, posted October 2, 2013, courtesy of the United Soybean Board via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Solar Cell Greenhouses | Earth Wise

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A recent study at North Carolina State University has shown that it can be feasible to use see-through solar panels in greenhouses to generate electricity.  The idea is to use semi-transparent solar panels on greenhouses that allow some of the light to get in for the plants to grow while making the greenhouses energy neutral or even allowing them to generate more power than they use.

The question is how the semi-transparent solar panels might affect greenhouse crops.  To investigate this issue, researchers grew crops of red leaf lettuce from seed to full maturity under a standard set of growing conditions – temperature, water, fertilizer, and CO2 concentration – but varied the light they get. 

A control group was exposed to the full spectrum of white light while three experimental groups were exposed to light through different types of filters that absorbed the particular wavelengths of light that would be absorbed by different types of semitransparent solar cells.

The researchers paid close attention to characteristics of the lettuce that are important to growers, grocers, and consumers:  general appearance, leaf number, leaf size, and weight.  The results were that the lettuce produced using all three kinds of filtered light was essentially identical to that produced in the control group.    Further research is underway looking at how harvesting various wavelengths of light affects biological processes for lettuces, tomatoes, and other crops.

Getting growers to use solar-powered greenhouses would be very difficult if doing so would result in a loss of productivity.  But given these experimental results, it appears as though the decision will boil down to a simple economic argument about whether the investment in new greenhouse technology would be offset by energy production and its resultant savings.

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Study Finds Plants Would Grow Well in Solar Cell Greenhouses

Photo, posted April 8, 2008, courtesy of Brian Boucheron via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

The Corn Belt Is Losing Topsoil | Earth Wise

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According to a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, more than a third of the farmland in the U.S. Corn Belt has completely lost its carbon-rich topsoil due to erosion.   The affected area is nearly 100 million acres and the amount of carbon loss is nearly 2 million tons.

The study, led by scientists at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, found that the greatest loss of carbon-rich topsoil was on hilltops and ridgelines.  This indicates that tillage – the repeated plowing of fields – was the primary cause of the erosion because loosened soils move downslope.

The loss of topsoil has reduced corn and soybean yields in the Midwest by 6%, resulting in a loss of nearly $3 billion a year for farmers.  In addition, the loosening of the topsoil increases runoff of sediment and nutrients into nearly waterways, worsening water quality.

Previous studies have shown that no-till farming practices can have a significant impact on reducing erosion.  A study published last November found that if farmers shifted entirely to no-till practices, it would reduce soil erosion from U.S. agricultural fields by more than 70%, as well as significantly reducing nutrient and sediment runoff. 

No-till farming is the practice of planting crops without tilling the soil.  Instead, seeds are planted through the remains of previous crops by planters or drills that cut seed furrows, place the seeds, and close the furrow.  Currently less than 15% of farmland in the upper Mississippi River watershed is farmed with no-till practices. 

Even partial changes in tilling practices could produce positive results for topsoil retention and for waterways.

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One-Third of Farmland in the U.S. Corn Belt Has Lost Its Topsoil

Photo, posted September 15, 2010, courtesy of the United Soybean Board / Soybean Checkoff via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Turning Food Waste Back Into Food | Earth Wise

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Scientists at the University of California Riverside have discovered that fermented food waste can boost bacteria that increase crop growth, make plants more resistant to pathogens, and reduce the carbon emissions resulting from farming.

Food waste is a serious problem from multiple perspectives.  As much as 50% of food is thrown away in the United States and most of that simply ends up in landfills, taking up more than 20% of America’s landfill volume.  Food waste is a huge economic loss as well as a significant waste of freshwater resources used to produce food.

The researchers studied byproducts from two kinds of food waste readily available in Southern California:  beer mash – a byproduct of beer production – and mixed food waste discarded by grocery stores.

Both types of waste were fermented and then added to the irrigation system watering citrus plants in a greenhouse.  Within 24 hours, the average population of beneficial bacteria was two to three orders of magnitude greater than in plants that did not receive the treatments. This led to improvements in the carbon to nitrogen ratio in crops.  When there are enough so-called good bacteria in plants, they produce antimicrobial compounds and metabolites that help plants grow better and faster.

The results of the study suggest that the use of food waste products in agriculture is beneficial and could complement the use of synthetic chemical additives by farmers, perhaps eliminating it entirely.  Crops would in turn become less expensive.

Making use of food waste in agriculture is a step towards a more circular economy in which we use something and then find a new purpose for it.

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Turning food waste back into food

Photo, posted October 28, 2012, courtesy of Daniel Lobo via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Essential Oils And Organic Crops | Earth Wise

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Essential oils are concentrated liquids extracted from plants.  They are called “essential” in the sense that they contain the essence of the fragrance that is characteristic of the plant.  Essential does not mean indispensable or usable by the human body.  But despite that fact, essential oils have been used in folk medicine throughout history. 

In recent times, essential oils have frequently been used in aromatherapy.  Generally speaking, medicinal uses of essential oils are controversial, and, in some cases, they have even been demonstrated to be dangerous.

Research has shown that essential oils have potential as natural pesticides.  Recently, the USDA has funded research into the use of essential oils to battle pests and diseases of organic crops.

U.S. organic food sales topped $50 billion in 2018 and fruits, vegetables, and other specialty crops combined make up more than a third of organic sales.  In order to meet consumer demand, farmers need ways to battle pests and diseases that often accompany organic crop growth.

A four-year project at the University of Hawaii at Manoa is entitled “Plant Safety, Horticultural Benefits, and Disease Efficacy of Essential Oils for Use in Organically Grown Fruit Crops:  From the Farm to the Consumer.”   The researchers will work with certified organic producers in Hawaii, Florida, South Carolina, Georgia, and California to evaluate the effectiveness of plant essential oils on major fruit pathogens such as avocado scab, anthracnose fungal disease, and powdery mildew on targeted tropical and temperate fruit crops such as avocado, mango, blueberry, and peach.

The goal is increase orchard productivity of the expanding organic fruit industry.

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Essential oils could keep pests, disease from organic crops

Photo, posted January 6, 2015, courtesy of Abi Porter via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

WAMC Northeast Public Radio

WAMC/Northeast Public Radio is a regional public radio network serving parts of seven northeastern states (more...)