Israel

Two-thirds of the cropland in the Gaza Strip has been damaged by shelling, razing, and vehicle traffic since armed conflict began a year ago in the territory, said two UN agencies. The escalating agricultural damage exacerbated a food shortage, said the Food and Agriculture Organization and the UN Satellite Center.

With the largest reverse-osmosis desalination plant in the world, Israel is now the only country in the Middle East to have a water surplus, says Ensia. But if other countries take Israel's cue, all that extra water could mean less fighting.

Palestinians in the Gaza Strip say that their crops are failing because of herbicides sprayed by Israel along the Gaza-Israel buffer zone, says Aljazeera. It quoted an Israeli Army spokesman who confirmed spraying in the area, citing security reasons.

A massive farm in Central Valley, California, is teaming with Israeli water experts running the first ever experiment with drip irrigation for rice production in the U.S.