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The Big Idea: using AI to breed more sustainable crops

Freya Pratty

June 22, 2021 |

Sifted |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Israel

For the past 200 years, crops have been bred for yield, for feeding livestock, rather than nutritional value. However, as more people shift away from meat the industry is looking to produce crops for flavor and nutritional value. Yet, finding the right crops with the right traits can take a long time. One company is trying to speed up the process. Equinom, is a company that is using AI technology to select the best genes from each plant and then predict the outcomes. The technology has resulted in 100k acres of specialized crops.

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After a century of dispossession, Black farmers are fighting to get back to the land

Tom Philpott

May 01, 2021 |

Mother Jones |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States

In the U.S., a movement of Black farmers is trying to reclaim their legacy as agrarians. Only 1.7 percent of farms were run by Black farmers according to the U.S. Census of Agriculture. Black farmers are forming collectives, creating land trusts, creating conferences.

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Can California's Organic Vegetable Farmers Unlock the Secrets of No-Till Farming?

Gosia Wozniacka

March 30, 2021 |

Civil Eats |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, California

A trial experiment with three farmers and several California universities is looking to better understand how to farm with little or no chemicals. No-till farming can boost soil health and better store carbon, but it’s not a perfect system. These farmers are testing how to reduce soil disturbance, use cover crops, and diversify their species of crops, yet so far, they haven’t found much success. “Figuring this all out has been ‘a school of hard knocks,’” says one of the farmers.

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Plotting the future: the ‘seed guardians' bringing variety to UK gardens

Alexander Turner

January 19, 2021 |

The Guardian |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United Kingdom

Hundreds of seed-saving initiatives across the UK support the cultivation of “open pollinated seeds” in small plots and gardens to preserve future seed diversity. In contrast to static seeds in a bank, these seed-saving efforts focus on actually growing and sustaining seeds to provide security and more resilient crops. Open pollinated seeds reliably produce viable, true-to-type plants year after year so new seeds do not have to be purchased every season. Many “seed-savers” participate in seed circles where they exchange surplus seeds among small groups, enhancing the security and diversity of seeds.

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Indigenous agroforestry revives profitable palm trees and the Atlantic Forest

Xavier Bartaburu

January 13, 2021 |

Mongabay |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Brazil, Sao Paulo

The Jussara Fortress program helped the indigenous Guarani people turn small-scale production of jussara palm hearts, a delicacy, into the main source of income. Sustainable growing techniques protect the jussara, which was endangered by deforestation and over-harvesting. This, in turn, provides for a biodiverse system with environmental and health benefits for the Ribeirão Silveira Indigenous Territory. The program planted more than 100,000 of the trees, which need a decade to yield a small amount of marketable product.

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Soil: The Dirty Climate Solution

Ayana Elizabeth Johnson Alex Blumberg

January 07, 2021 |

Gimlet Media |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Redwood Falls, Minnesota

More and more farmers are turning to regenerative agriculture techniques as a way to cut down on costs, increase crop yields, and sequester carbon into soil as a way to reverse the effects of climate change. One farming family in Minnesota switched to no tillage farming and also planted cover crops and used animals to fertilize their land. Some people question their methods, but these farmers saw their cost of production decrease and increased the amount of organic matter in their soil compared with their neighbors.

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With Centuries-Old Techniques, This Farm Is Preparing for the Future

Klaus Sieg

December 18, 2020 |

Reasons to be Cheerful |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: France, Normandy

An unusually robust crop yield is stunning scientists at a small family farm where traditional farming techniques have replaced machinery, pesticides, and fertilizers. The French farmers implemented tips and tricks from cultures around the world and they now produce organic produce at much higher rates per square feet than conventional farms. Their methods have also bolstered the farm against extreme weather patterns, making it a model worth replicating.

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How To Feed The World Without Destroying It

Debbie Weingarten

December 01, 2020 |

The Huffington Post |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Virginia

The coronavirus pandemic has exposed the fragility of the U.S. food supply chain, yet for indigenous led-operations there has been little interruption thanks to practices that rely on shorter supply chains that "work with local ecosystems, not against them." In Virginia, one farmer is using the lessons from this traditional knowledge to create a small-scale farming collective.

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Addressing organic farming's climate-change problem

Jenny Splitter

November 10, 2020 |

Hothouse Solutions |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Paxton, Illinois

On his organic farm in Illinois, Will Glazik is experimenting with different types of agricultural methods to increase his crop yield while also avoiding the harmful impacts of industrial farming. He’s part of a growing movement called “sustainable intensification,” which combines both conventional and organic farming techniques. While there are challenges with this approach and what works in one place might not work in another, combining these types of farming could help feed a growing global population.

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In syntropic agriculture, farmers stop fighting nature and learn to embrace it

Sandra Weiss

July 30, 2020 |

Mongabay |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Brazil, Gandú, Bahia

Ernst Götsch, an agronomist and cocoa farmer in Brazil, uses a different method of agriculture that could be more beneficial to small farmers. His method, known as syntropic agriculture, is an agroforestry system where different plants interact with each other to create more complex ecosystems and more fertile soils. While the method involves more labor and observation, it doesn’t use pesticides or fertilizers and has resulted in larger crop yields and more income on his own farm. He is sharing his process with other farmers looking to improve their farms.

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