USDA NeedEgypt turns to
science to mitigate water crisis
Alamein’s 150k cbm/day desalination plant has been inaugurated
as first phase to offset water scarcity
Comments
Offon Egypt
turns to science to mitigate water crisis
Among the most fertile of Egypt’s lands in Daqahleya
governorate, 48-year-old farmer Mohamed Awad used to plant rice at this time of
the year.
In 2020, however, he has been prevented from doing so by the
local authorities, as the Egyptian government moves to allocate only a certain
area of land to cultivate rice to decrease the country’s water consumption.
Awad said that rice is one of the best crops for farmers in
Egypt to grow in economic terms, but “due to the construction of the Ethiopian
dam, the government started to decrease the area cultivated with the water
consuming crop.”
Whilst ostensibly to save water, the decision has negatively
affected thousands of farmers across Egypt, like Awad, who have had to plant
other crops they are not used to.
Egypt is heavily dependent on River Nile water, which provides
about 97% of its present water needs. This still means that Egyptians can
access only 660 cbm per person, one of the world’s lowest annual per capita
water shares.
Meanwhile, Ethiopia is proceeding with construction on the Grand
Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), which Egypt believes will threaten its water
security.
The Egyptian government blames overpopulation for the
exponential increase in water demands. With the population expected to double
in the next 50 years, Egypt is projected to experience critical countrywide
fresh water and food shortages by 2025, according to a study conducted by the
Geological Society of America (GSA).
Over the next 30 years, Egypt’s population is estimated to reach
150 million which will lead to a decrease in the per capita share of water to
350 cm/year.
Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Mohammed Abdel Aaty
explained that his ministry is bulking out on the amount of water available,
with 33% of Egypt’s water coming from recycled water resources. A further 55%
of the virtual water comes in the form of crops that are imported as
commodities and food items.
Egypt’s per capita share of water currently stands at below the
international standard of 1,000 cbm/year, with the country taking 600 cbm/year.
Despite the potential threat to accessing water from this source due to the
Ethiopian dam project, the country’s share of River Nile waters is stable.
Four-directive strategy
Ragab Abdel Azeem, Deputy Minister of Water Resources and
Irrigation, said that in order to meet the country’s water needs, the ministry
has set a strategy using four directives. These will develop water resources,
rationalise water use, purify water and protect it from pollution, whilst also
creating the appropriate environment for implementing these aspects.
Abdel Azeem noted that the ministry is working on implementing a
modern irrigation system as an alternative to flood irrigation. The Ministry of
Water Resources and Irrigation has also implemented programmes and campaigns to
educate farmers and citizens about the importance of balanced water consumption.
In addition to this, the ministry is undertaking several studies
to estimate Egypt’s underground reservoir, and its potential uses in
development without depleting this non-renewable natural resource.
“We have, in the past two years, started to implement the use of
solar energy for irrigation in underground wells instead of diesel,” Abdel
Azeem said.
The project started in the New Valley Governorate, with a
three-year plan to make all wells across the governorate solar-powered. The
project was also implemented in the Nile Delta governorates, to operate
irrigation systems using solar energy. A number of government buildings
nationwide are also being converted to using solar energy.
Drought tolerant crops
Researchers have identified new drought-resistant plant genes
that could cope with water scarcity. They have also looked into cultivating
rice, which could help in decreasing the salinity of the soil in Egypt’s
coastal governorates.
Said Soliman, Professor of Genetics at Zagazig University’s
Faculty of Agriculture, outlined one local experience relating to
environmentally viable rice cultivation. Soliman has gained long-term
experience in developing new species of rice that resist drought and use less water
during cultivation.
He said that he has developed a variety of rice, which was given
the name “Oraby” in honour of the political leader Ahmed Oraby and who is
Zagazig University’s symbol.
This new variety of engineered rice only takes about 120 days to
grow, compared to the 145 days for normal rice. He added that the Oraby rice
variety can be cultivated twice yearly.
It can also be cultivated on all types of land, with successful
cultivation experiments having been undertaken using the sandy soils of Toshka,
as well as in clay soil. According to Soliman, there are several other benefits
to the new variety of rice developed at Zagazig University.
Not only is Oraby rice considerably more productive than normal
varieties, it is also possible to cultivate 2m feddan of Oraby rice using the
same amount of water as that needed for 1m feddan of normal rice.
Desalination
Another solution to mitigating the water access crisis is the
use of desalinated water. This would see a dependence on groundwater as well as
the desalination of seawater to meet the domestic demand for water.
Late in 2019, the government established the Alamein
desalination plant, located on the Mediterranean Coast. The plant expects to
produce 150,000 cbm/day of drinking water from desalinated seawater.
A recent study noted that the domestic water sector is one of
the largest users of water in Egypt, consuming more than 16% of the country’s
total renewable water resources.
Egypt is urgently in need of a plan to offset the increase in
current domestic water consumption, from around 9.2bn cbm in 2016 to about 15bn
cbm of water by 2040. This would use alternatives to River Nile waters,
according to findings of a study published in the American Journal of
Engineering Research (AJER).
According to the study, domestic water in Egypt is taken from
two main sources. The first source is surface water, which supplies about
88.99%, with the second source being groundwater, which supplies about 10.77%
of total demands. A further 0.24% is taken from sea water desalination plants.
The major factor affecting the amount of diverted water for domestic use is the
efficiency of the country’s delivery networks.
“Groundwater and seawater desalination are together a promising
source for meeting the future water needs of Egypt. By 2040 Egypt will need
additional 5bn cbm to meet the domestic use of water to reach the needed amount
15 bn cbm,” said Osama Sallam, the author of the study and researcher at the
Egyptian National Water Research Center, and Water Projects Manager, at the
UAE’s Environment Agency.
Sallam added that Egypt’s groundwater stock is fresh with low
levels of salinity, allowing for the future domestic water demands to be met.
He noted that it is also cheaper than seawater desalination methods.
The process of seawater desalination is very expensive, with the
cost of desalinating 1 cbm of water currently stands at $1,000. This is in
addition to the other operating and maintenance costs.
This process, however, is a promising source of water for
coastal governorates particularly as Egypt relies on cheaper sources for energy
that will help in decreasing the cost of desalination.
Harvesting water from desert air
A total of 97% of Egypt’s land is desert, found in Sinai as well
as the Eastern and Western Deserts, with only a restricted line of fertile
lands available hugging the River Nile.
For arid countries like Egypt, scientists at the University of
California at Berkeley have developed a device that produces water from dry
desert air, using only sunlight. The method is dependent on developing a
molecular powder, a metal–organic framework (MOF), that is highly porous and
acts like a sponge to absorb water.
According to the study published in Science Advances Journal,
the powder saturated with water during a moist and cool night after it was
packed in a frame at a plexiglass box. After this step, it releases water as
sunlight heats it during the day, resulting in water condensation on the sides
of the box which was kept open at night and closed in the day.
ICAR appoints 2 SKUAST-K professors as Emeritus
Scientists
Srinagar,
UPDATED: September 15, 2020, 11:28 PM
Indian Council of Agricultural
Research, (ICAR), Union Ministry of Agriculture has offered position of
Emeritus Scientists to two faculty members of SKUAST-K, Prof M Y Zargar and
Prof G A Parray, for a period of three years, an official statement said.
It said the offer has been made on
the basis of their “life time achievements” including contributions to
agricultural education and research and the projects submitted by them for
investigation during their tenure as Emeritus Scientists.
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USA Rice
COVID-19 Industry Resource Webpage
September 16, 2020
Ash
collects on windshield
(Vicky Boyd photo)
Rice Harvest Commences in California
By Steve Linscombe
SACRAMENTO, CA -- Most of
California's rice production is in the Sacramento Valley, north of Sacramento,
the state capital. While much of the
2020 crop was planted earlier than normal because an unusually dry spring
allowed earlier field preparation, smoke associated with wildfires in the
region appears to be slowing development as much of the crop approaches harvest
maturity.
Bruce Linquist, with the University
of California Davis, said that smoke, and thus lower temperatures, are delaying
grain drying and harvest.
"We started harvesting short
grain before Labor Day and have been moving along steadily," said Nicole
Van Vleck, with Montna Farms near Yuba City.
"Although we have had relatively high temperatures, the two weeks
of smoke have blocked the sunshine and as a result the fields have not dried
out as much as we normally would see.
Our yields and quality look really good."
Tom Butler, near Robbins, started
harvesting this past weekend.
"Everybody is expecting high yields due to a warm spring and so
far, we are seeing that. The smoke may
have delayed some crop maturity, but we are still much earlier than the past
few years. There's going to be a lot of
demand for new crop early, as there isn't much carry over from 2019, so, for
now, people are pretty bullish on price."
Seth Fiack who farms near Glenn,
expects to begin harvest next week. He
notes a large amount of variable heading this year which led to him holding
water longer then he normally does to encourage the secondary and late heads to
have enough moisture to mature. This,
combined with the smoke-covered valley and lower than average day-time
temperatures, have led to his harvest start being pushed back almost 15 days.
Leo LaGrande has a diverse operation
near Williams that has experienced continuous smoke on the westside of the
valley for more than 28 days. "Some
days the visibility was less than a mile," said LaGrande. "The rice appears to be ripening on
time. Until this past week, we had
extreme hot weather layered with smoke, and nighttime temperatures in the
70s. We started harvesting short grain
this past week, with yields and quality at average to above average. According
to our planting dates the medium grain appears to be on time, and we will start
cutting these fields by the end of the week.
Fields will be difficult to get dried out this year and parking trucks
in the fields might not happen."
Smoke-laden skies
(Kurt Richter photo)
"Smoke from the wildfires has
limited hours of sunlight in our region near Sacramento," said rice farmer
Brian McKenzie. "In the past three
weeks, we've had only a handful of clear views of the sun. It is extremely humid, and the valley is
still under a blanket of smoke. I
estimate our fields have probably had a few hundred pounds of ash per acre
deposited from the wildfires which may have an interesting effect."
"I saw the sun on Monday for
the first time in quite a while and the smoke is slowly going away," said
Charley Mathews, Jr., who farms near Marysville. "It looks to be a decent crop, but, like
most people, I will be glad when harvest is complete and 2020 is over."
Christopher Cota said his family
operation is about two weeks away from commencing harvest, while Greg Van Dyke
noted that his mochi/sweet fields have done well despite smoky conditions.
"The timing of harvest has been
delayed due to the smoke insulation as the ground has not dried out, so the
rice is ready, but the ground is not," said Don Traynham, with Sun Valley
near Arbuckle. "We have had some
Calrose fields harvested, and the yields are average to above average. California experienced a similar situation a
few years ago, though not this extreme, where smoke insulation kept the high
and low temperatures very minimal which enhanced quality."
Bert Manuel, from Yuba City, said
not a lot of rice is being cut in his area, and there is a great deal of green
rice around. "My rice has gone from
being ahead of schedule to being behind, and the jury is still out on yields
for this year's crop as smoke continues to affect later planted rice." Manuel noted the lack of sunlight delays the
beginning of harvest each day as it takes longer for surface moisture to
evaporate.
"Mild lodging already exists
where I farm in Butte County and with a significant wind or any amount of rain,
we could have some rough harvest conditions show up," said Josh
Sheppard. "Our co-op drying
facility in Richvale has the capacity to receive 350 truckloads a day and only
took in 39 on Monday. I expect things
will start to pick up next week as growers become anxious and frustrated with
waiting for harvest."
Dr. Kent McKenzie, director of the
California Rice Experiment Station near Biggs, said, "No plots have been
cut either on the experiment station or by the UC-Davis Statewide Variety
Testing Program. RES Foundation seed
from small fields of specialty varieties are being cut." McKenzie also agreed that the lack of
sunlight has been delaying initiation of harvest each day.
A true assessment of the 2020 crop
will have to wait until harvest is complete.
In the meantime, California rice farmers are cautiously optimistic as
the start of the harvest season has been somewhat promising. As the smoke dissipates in the valley,
harvest conditions should improve along with the collective frame of mind.
Harvest in fields of gold (Greg
VanDyke photo)
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The American Farm Bureau
Federation and 41 other agriculture organizations are asking Congress to
ensure the USDA has the tools necessary to help farmers in times of crisis. The
group sent a letter to House and Senate leadership requesting they immediately
provide replenishment for the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) through the
continuing resolution. Without immediate replenishment, funding for farm bill
programs could run out while farmers struggle against low commodity prices,
natural disasters and the coronavirus pandemic. 
“For decades, CCC has been
regularly replenished to fund programs integral to the farm safety net that
Congress has worked tirelessly to craft,” the letter states. “Producers count
on programs like Agriculture Risk Coverage, Price Loss Coverage, Dairy Margin
Coverage, Marketing Assistance Loans, conservation programs, and many others as
they provide food, fuel and fiber for our nation. Without immediate CCC
reimbursement, payments and programs would be significantly delayed,
jeopardizing operations across the country.” 
Although much recent attention
has been focused on CCC aid to farmers to address the unprecedented crisis
caused by the pandemic, it’s important to recognize that the CCC is critical
when natural disasters strike, enabling USDA to act quickly to deliver aid. The
CCC is also core to our nation’s success advancing conservation efforts, having
enrolled more than 140 million acres in USDA conservation programs – more than
the land mass of California and New York combined. In reality, the CCC is a
stabilizing force across U.S. agriculture.
Organizations that signed the
letter include the Agricultural Retailers Association, Amcot, American
Agri-Women, American Cotton Producers, American Cotton Shippers Association,
American Dairy Coalition, American Farm Bureau Federation, American Pulse
Association, American Sheep Industry Association, American Soybean Association,
American Sugar Alliance, Association of Equipment Manufacturers, Cotton Growers
Warehouse Association, Cotton Warehouse Association of America, Crop Insurance
Professionals Association, National Association of Wheat Growers, National
Barley Growers Association, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, National
Corn Growers Association, National Cotton Council, National Cotton Ginners
Association, National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, National Farmers Union,
National Milk Producers Federation, National Sorghum Producers, National
Sunflower Association, Panhandle Peanut Growers Association, Plains Cotton
Growers, Inc., Produce Marketing Association, Rural & Agriculture Council
of America, Society of American Florists, Southeastern Cotton Ginners
Association, Southern Cotton Growers, Southwest Council of Agribusiness,
U.S. Canola Association, U.S. Cattlemen’s Association, United Egg
Producers, United States Peanut Federation, US Rice Producers Association, USA
Dry Pea & Lentil Council, USA Rice and the Western Peanut Growers
Association.
Read the full letter here.
Contact:
Mike Tomko
Director, Communications
(202) 406-3642
miket@fb.org
Bailey Corwine
Media Relations Specialist
(202) 406-3643
baileyc@fb.org
ice farmers withdraw from wet season rice farming in
Delta state...
Flooding: Rice farmers withdraw from wet season rice farming in
Delta state –RIFAN
By
September 15, 2020
By Ifeanyi Olannye
Asaba, Sept. 15, 2020 Rice farmers in Delta have withdrawn from wet season
farming for failure of service providers to prepare land early for
participating farmers before the onset of flooding in the state.
Mr Sylvanus Ejezie, the Chairman,
Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) made this in an interview with the
News Agency of Nigeria on Tuesday in Asaba.
Ejezie said that the state
chapter had received inputs under the RIFAN-Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)-
Anchor-Borrowers scheme to boost rice production for no fewer than 5,000
participating farmers for the wet season farming.
He said that only 200 farmers,
who prepared their own land keyed into the programme, adding that many farmers
would have gone into planting since July if not for the delay in land
preparation.
According to him, it is part of
the scheme’s arrangement for designated service providers to do the land
preparation for participating farmers before delivering the inputs to them.
“We received the first batch of
inputs for 3,107 farmers which were later increased to cover more than 5,000
farmers.
“But the state farmers are
disappointed as they have waited for the land preparation but the service
providers are yet to come and because of the rains and the threatening flood,
the farmers are now afraid to continue with the wet season farming.
“However, the farmers are making
arrangement to take advantage of the dry season farming from November instead,
while appealing to the service providers to come and help them with the land
preparation.
“So far, we have released inputs
to only 200 farmers in the state who took the pains to prepare their own land
for the wet season farming,’’ he said.
Ejezie said that the inputs were
factored as loan amounting to about N217, 344 per farmer depending on the items
and services received by participating farmers under the scheme to cultivate
one hectare of land with expected yield of four tonnes of rice.
He said that for those farmers
who prepared their land on their own, that the portion of loan that had to do
with land preparation would be removed during loan repayment.
He encouraged farmers to take up
land preparation as business farmers and not to continue to wait for the
service providers to prepare the land for them.
He said that the association had
approached the state government through the State Ministry of Agriculture and
Natural Resources to make tractors available to members to address the
challenge of land preparation to boost rice cultivation and production.
He expressed the hope that those
who planted in July would soon be harvesting their crops by October, adding
that by November, the dry season farming was expected to have started, unless
there was flooding.
“And because we are already
expecting the flood, it is not advisable for farmers to continue with the wet
season farming for fear of their plants being washed away.
“Actually, we consulted with the
farmers from across the state, and they told us that because of the delay in
land preparation, they cannot continue but wait till November to take up dry
season farming,” he said.
The chairman said that items
received and given to the farmers as loan include certified rice seed, water
pumps, hose intake, fertilisers, herbicides, pesticides, knapsack sprayers, others.
Delta is one of the states in the
country predicted by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) to suffer the
impact of flooding this year.
SunRice, former Deniliquin farmer, on depleted
rice supplies and water policy
Sophie Boyd
Shelley Scoullar
holds a picture of her family - husband Paul and sons Hayden, 14, Lachie, 4,
and Jack, 12 - taken in April 2019 during their last rice harvest on her farm.
Australia's locally-grown rice
supplies could be exhausted by Christmas, according to SunRice, with high water
prices and a lack of allocation making rice growing "almost
impossible" for NSW Riverina growers.
A SunRice spokesman said supplies
of Australia rice would be exhausted by the end of 2020 or early 2021,
depending on demand.
He said 623,000 tonnes of rice
was harvested in 2018, but production dropped 91 per cent in 2019 to just
54,000 tonnes. The 2020 crop was 45,000 tonnes.
"The record low Australian
crops of the last two years - despite SunRice paying our growers record high
rice prices - are a reflection of the ongoing drought, lack of water
availability, and very high water pricing which has made rice growing almost
impossible for most Riverina growers," he said.
"While in part caused by
drought, we also believe those impacts have been exacerbated by state and
national water reform - with the burden being disproportionately borne by
farmers who grow annual crops like rice in southern NSW."
Panic buying earlier this year
"accelerated how quickly [SunRice] processed remaining supplies of
Australian rice."
Former Deniliquin rice grower
Shelley Scoullar said the lack of water allocation forced many Riverina rice
farmers to sow smaller crops, diversify or leave the farm altogether.
"The rice shortage is more
about poor policy than the drought, it is about people making decisions from
concrete city buildings and not understanding the big picture," she said.
Mrs Scoullar grew up on her
parent's rice farm in Deniliquin and purchased her own farm opposite decades
later with her husband.
"In a good year between my
parents and ourselves we produced enough rice to feed a serve each to roughly
nine million people," she said.
"In our last year of growing
rice, which was harvested in April 2019, we could only grow less than a million
serves because we had such a low water allocation, even though it was pouring
down the Murray River and unnaturally flooding forests."
Ilocos Norte Gets P4-M Prize As
Agri-Pinoy Rice Achiever
September 16, 2020
The province of Ilocos Norte
continues to lead the way in terms of rice sufficiency as it hit again its rice
production target with a surplus of more than 150 percent.
Recognized as one of the
country’s top 10 rice producers, Ilocos Norte was awarded PHP4 million check
recently through Department of Agriculture (DA) regional director Nestor
Domenden, as an Agri-Pinoy rice achiever.
The turnover of the check
coincided with the distribution of multi-million farm machinery and equipment
to further inspire Ilocos Norte farmers to boost their productivity.
According to provincial
agriculturist Norma Lagmay, the PHP4 million prize will be utilized to help
rice farmers improve their way of life in the face of the coronavirus disease
2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.
The DA-initiated Agri-Pinoy Rice
Achiever’s Award identifies the top 10 rice-producing communities in the
country. The competition is divided into three categories: Local Government
Units (LGUs), Agricultural Extension Workers (AEWs), and Irrigators
Associations (IAs) for the regional level and national level.
Based on the Philippine
Statistics Authority data, the volume of rice production in Region 1 had an
increment of 6,033 metric tons from 488,855 metric tons production in 2019 to
494,887.85 metric tons production in 2020.
La Union recorded the highest
growth at 19.83 percent, followed by Ilocos Sur at 2.42 percent, Ilocos Norte
at 2.42 percent, and Pangasinan at 0.91 percent.
As to yield, the province of
Ilocos Sur registered the highest level yield per hectare at 5.30 metric tons,
followed by Ilocos Norte at 5.21 metric tons, La Union at 4.92 metric tons, and
Pangasinan at 4.74 metric tons.
In receiving the award, Governor
Matthew Joseph Manotoc said in a virtual interview Tuesday that agriculture
remains to be a top priority under his administration. (PNA)
Can you spot which meal is healthier? Dietitian shares
photos of her meals - but one comes with nearly DOUBLE the calories
·
Dietitian
reveals how simple swaps can make a huge difference to calorie intake
·
Paula Norris
shared a picture of two nearly identical stir fries with basmati rice
·
She said
making changes to ingredients can cut dish from 683 to 438 calories
·
he difference
comes about by varying the amount of chicken and basmati rice
PUBLISHED: 07:20
BST, 16 September 2020 | UPDATED: 07:21
BST, 16 September 2020
A dietitian has revealed how tweaking your diet with
simple food swaps can make a huge difference to your calorie intake.
Paula Norris, from Brisbane, shared a
picture of two nearly identical stir fries with basmati rice - but one dish
contains 245 calories more than the other.
The nutrition expert explained how making just a few
changes to the ingredients can cut the dish from 683 to 438 calories by
reducing the portion size of chicken and rice, doubling the amount of
vegetables and substituting honey for lime juice.
A dietitian has revealed how tweaking your
diet with simple food swaps can make a huge difference to your calorie
intake (pictured: Two different versions of a chicken stir fries)
Surface ozone increase threatens
global food crops
Basic food crops for millions of
people worldwide are endangered because of surging ground-level ozone
concentration. Indian farms are among those most at risk. Scientists are now
racing to make plants more resistant.
The alarming discovery of an increasing hole in the planet's
ozone layer in 1985 led to a global ban on the production of CFCs, halons, and
other ozone-depleting chemicals. As a result, the protective cocoon of gas that
shields the earth from harmful solar radiation is now on the mend. Last year,
NASA announced that the hole in the ozone layer was much smaller than when
first discovered.
But while the ozone present in the upper atmosphere works as a
natural sunscreen blocking harmful ultraviolet rays, high ozone concentration
on the ground is toxic for people's health, and damages vegetation and
ecosystems.
Ozone is a key component of smog. It is created by a chemical
reaction between nitrogen oxide and pollutants emitted by cars and power plants
in the presence of ultraviolet sunlight. Recent findings by the Royal Society,
the UK's academy of sciences, suggest ground-level ozone has increased by about
two parts per billion (ppb) each decade since the 1980s. What's more, ozone
levels have breached safety thresholds in many regions around the world, and
have been linked to severe vegetation damage globally.
"These effects of ozone are also comparable to other
stresses such as pests and diseases in plants, heat, and aridity,"
explained Ane Vollsnes, a researcher at the University of Oslo, citing a study that
shows ozone has the most damaging impact on plants compared to other factors.
A 2017 study found that future warming and unmitigated ozone
pollution in the US, could cause a decline of 13% in wheat crops, 28% in
soybean yield, and 43% in maize by 2050 as compared to 2000.
Surface ozone a concern in Arctic region
Frode Stordal and Ane Vollsnes in Norway are researching how
plants are damaged by ozone
This clover plant is showing dead tissue after 9 hours of exposure
to ozone
Around the world, scientists are trying to understand the
correlation between ground-level ozone and damage to vegetation.
The ozone concentration rises when it's sunny. That has led to
big problems in countries like Norway and arctic regions that experience many
hours of sunlight in summer.
Read more: Climate change already affecting German farmers
Ane Vollsnes and Frode Strodal at the University of Oslo have
been tracing how ground-level ozone pollution affects plants, depending on how
much sun they get. For their study, they exposed clover plants to ozone for
three six-hour periods in their lab.
"In our experiments, the clovers were exposed to 70 ppb of
ozone. In Europe, 70 ppb often occurs during the daytime in some regions, and
this is not considered a very high level," Vollsnes told DW.
They found that after a few hours, black spots started to appear
on the clovers' leaves, indicating dead tissue. Even this brief exposure was
enough to damage the plants by blocking their tiny pores called stomata, which
help them breathe.
Health effects of 'bad ozone'
In contrast to oxygen's two atoms (O2), which are essential for
the existence of life, the three atoms of oxygen (O3) that make up ozone can
suffocate plants and animals when inhaled. In humans, it can damage lung
tissue.
Ozone tends to block the small holes called alveoli in the
lungs, aggravating respiratory problems such as shortness of breath, asthma
attacks, and coughing. Long-term exposure to ozone is linked to permanent
health issues, such as abnormal lung development in children.
Some of the highest levels of surface ozone in the world have
been found in parts of the western US, Norway, northwestern India, China, and
Pakistan. That also means that crops in these regions are particularly at risk.
Asthma patients and children are particularly at risk from ozone
pollution
Ozone in India killing crops that could feed 94 million
India faces a distinct challenge to curb ozone-causing pollution
as hot weather speeds up the chemical reactions that create ozone near the
surface. The country is estimated to have suffered massive vegetation loss over
the last two decades, according to a study by the Indian Institute of
Technology in Kanpur.
"Our estimates show the highest annual loss of wheat of
about 9 million tons in northern India, one of the most polluted regions in
India, and about 2.6 million tons of rice in the eastern region," Shyam
Lal Gupta, one of the lead authors, told DW.
Similar recent studies by major institutes like the University
of Oslo, the Indian Institute of Meteorology and UK Centre of Ecology and
Hydrology indicate that crops in India face the impacts of ozone every winter
whenever smog levels increase.
That has led to a loss of two-thirds of the annual harvest in
the states of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal. However, Gupta adds
that more research needs to be done to show "long-term trends in surface
ozone over the Indian region."
Agriculture employs more than 50% of the Indian population
Basmati rice is one of the main export items of India
Ozone mitigation
According to Vollsnes, India and China will likely bear the
brunt of ozone's damaging impact on food production.
"This is where population growth is the greatest, and the
standard of living is increasing the most," Vollsnes told DW. "This
is happening at the same time as the need for food is increasing."
The number of vehicles in India has nearly tripled in the past
decade, with 130 million cars in 2013 compared to 50 million in 2003, according
to the International Council on Clean Transportation.
Nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted
from such vehicles create the ideal conditions for ozone to accumulate on the
ground as temperatures rise due to global warming.
A busy road in the middle of the day is caught in a haze in the
smoggy India capital, Delhi
That's why researchers like Shyam Lal Gupta are calling for new
solutions.
"We have suggested that if the winter cropping season is
shifted a bit earlier, when ozone levels are lower, it will have a positive
effect on saving the crops," he said, but adds it might be difficult the
monsoon rains begin, as they can spoil crops that need dry conditions to grow —
like wheat.
"The other suggestion is to produce a new variety of wheat
and rice or of other crops, which will have lower damaging effects due to
ozone," Gupta said.
In a 2019 paper published in Nature Communications, researchers
at the University of California reported they had successfully prepared plants
capable of surviving in different temperature, For instance, arabidopsis, a
model plant, can grow at different times of the year as the season changes. 
This could potentially minimize ozone impacts on crop yields by
helping plants grow all year round and avoid smog. It would be even more
effective to reduce the levels of toxic surface ozone in the first place by
mitigating pollution, but Gupta said there's a lack of awareness surrounding
the problem.
"We do not find any mitigation policy being implemented in
India just for ozone," he said. "However, efforts to control air
pollution are being made by different government agencies. These efforts will
also have effects on the levels of surface ozone."
India is seeing reduced smog levels for the first time in many
years thanks to a strict coronavirus lockdown.
To date, climate negotiations have focused mainly on bringing
down carbon emissions. But without further efforts to regulate other poisonous
emissions, rising temperatures and pollutants like nitrogen oxides will
continue to form ground-level ozone.
·
CLEAN FARMS CAN SAVE THE CLIMATE
Room for improvement
Annual carbon emissions from global agriculture can be reduced
by as much as 90 percent by 2030, according to a new report released by Climate
Focus and California Environmental Associates. That would be the equivalent of
getting rid of all the cars in the world. The study highlights a range of
strategies to mitigate carbon production in agriculture.
UCCE holding
webinars regarding major Sacramento Valley crops
·
The University of California
Cooperative Extension Sutter-Yuba-Colusa is hosting a series of webinars in
September and October regarding research updates on some of the Sacramento
Valley’s major crops.
The classes are primarily focused
on pest management and pesticide safety, which is relevant to growers
throughout the state.
The next webinar is planned for
Sept. 16. Amber Vinchesi-Vahl, vegetable crops advisor for UCCE, will provide
information on pest issues in vegetables and the latest research updates on
disease and weed management in processing tomatoes and cucumber beetles in
melons.
After that, the next webinar will
be hosted on Sept. 30 and will feature Whitney Brim-DeForest, rice and wild
rice advisor and local director of the UCCE branch.
“The webinar will provide an
opportunity for discussion and interaction about weed identification,”
Brim-DeForest said in a press release. “We will also cover the latest research
updates on specific weed species, resistance management, and new herbicides in
rice.”
The final webinar in the series
is planned for Oct. 7 and will feature Sarah Light, agronomy advisor. Topics
discussed will include opportunities to decrease environmental risk through
pesticide selection and application, accurate diagnosis, and reduction of loss
to the environment.
The first webinar was held on
Sept. 9 and went over proven almond Integrated Pest Management practices with
an eye on reducing input costs while delivering effective pest control.
Enrollment is limited, so those
wishing to participate are encouraged to register early. The cost is $20 for
one webinar, $35 for two, or $50 for three. For more details or to register,
visit http://ucanr.edu/syc-uccevirtualwebinars.
Continuing Education credits are
available for participants.
California Rice
Growers May Hold Key to Building up Salmon Populations
Date:
Tue, 09/15/2020 Broadcast: 11
Remark:
California rice growers may soon be able to provide the perfect habitat for
young salmon. (Gary Crawford and Paul Buttner, California Rice Commission)
Duration:
00:01:00.107
Author:
GCRAWFOR
MP3:
DA0_A08743285607492C8970FFFAAE9C6F2D.MP3
