Open-Access Database Will Help Water-Scarce Countries Get More Crop per Drop
A new open-access data portal to be developed by FAO will use satellite imagery to help water-scarce countries in the Near East and North Africa better manage this resource. Currently all countries in North Africa and the Near East suffer from severe water scarcity, with significant consequences for irrigated agriculture, the region's largest water user. This situation is expected to further intensify as climate change leads to more frequent and longer droughts, with severe impacts on food production.
 
How Researchers Are Trying to Grow an Unusual Urban Crop: Rice
There is a new project based on rice where, instead of growing it in the familiar paddies, they are conducting a three-year study in growing it just as you’d raise wheat or eggplant or apples: that is, on dry land. They’re doing it on a farm connected with one of the country’s smallest land-grant universities, and the only one based in a city. The goal: to produce a nutrient-dense crop that can be grown in urban areas.
 
Edible Water Bottle to Cause a Splash at EU Sustainability Awards
An edible alternative to plastic water bottles made from seaweed has topped the UK round of an EU competition for new, more sustainable products. The new spherical form of packaging, called Ooho and described by its makers as “water you can eat”, is biodegradeable, hygenic and costs 1 pence per unit to make.
 
Green Energy for the Poor
An innovative business model combining solar power and cellphones is electrifying parts of rural Africa that are far from the grid. It’s called M-KOPA. The “M” stands for “mobile,” and “kopa” means “to borrow.” The company’s customers make an initial deposit, roughly $30, toward a solar panel, a few ceiling lights, and charging outlets for cellphones.