Ensia

The sensitive center pivot and thrifty irrigation

In the face of drought in California and the Plains, growers are looking for ways to make the thriftiest use possible from the scarce water supply, says Ensia, describing research on how to nurture crops without wastage.

The world’s seed banks perennially are short of money

There are about 1,750 seed banks around the world "that collect, store, regenerate and distribute crop varieties and their ancestors in perpetuity," says Ensia. There are literally millions of accessions.

In Central Valley, farmers help farmers survive drought

For farmer Cannon Michael, life "is almost exclusively focused on finding ways to overcome the drought, and in California, when it comes to saving water, there's no time to waste," writes Sena Christian in the online magazine Ensia.