Let There Be Water | Seth M. Siegel | Macmillan
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New York Times and Los Angeles Times Bestseller!As every day brings urgent reports of growing water shortages around the world, there is no time to lose in the search for solutions.The U.S. government predicts that forty of our fifty states-and 60 percent of the earth's land surface-will soon face alarming gaps between available water and the growing demand for it. Without action, food prices will rise, economic growth will slow, and political instability is likely to follow.Let There Be Water illustrates how Israel can serve as a model for the United States and countries everywhere by showing how to blunt the worst of the coming water calamities. Even with 60 percent of its country made of desert, Israel has not only solv it also had an abundance of water. Israel even supplies water to its neighbors-the Palestinians and the Kingdom of Jordan-every day.Based on meticulous research and hundreds of interviews, Let There Be Water reveals the methods and techniques of the often offbeat inventors who enabled Israel to lead the world in cutting-edge water technology.Let There Be Water also tells unknown stories of how cooperation on water systems can forge diplomatic ties and promote unity. Remarkably, not long ago, now-hostile Iran relied on Israel to manage its water systems, and access to Israel's water know-how helped to warm China's frosty relations with Israel.Beautifully written, Let There Be Water is and inspiring account of the vision and sacrifice by a nation and people that have long made water security a top priority. Despite scant natural water resources, a rapidly growing population and economy, and often hostile neighbors, Israel has consistently jumped ahead of the water innovation-curve to assure a dynamic, vital future for itself. Every town, every country, and every reader can benefit from learning what Israel did to overcome daunting challenges and transform itself from a parched land into a water superpower.
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OneA WATER-RESPECTING CULTURERain, rain, go away,Come again some other day!-American nursery rhymeRain, rain, from the skiesAll day long, drops of waterDrip......
Praise for Let There Be Water
"Insightful...an instructive reminder that climate and geography don’t control a state’s destiny. Nature, as it turns out, is not as important as government nurture." —The Wall Street Journal“A must-read that is both fascinating and informative. “ —San Francisco Chronicle “With global water shortages generating political, military and humanitarian crises across the globe, Israel's astonishing ingenuity for wresting abundance from drought is an inspiring and instructive blueprint for the planet.” —Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.“If you are worried about global water shortages-and you should be-read this book. Seth Siegel brings an urgent message of how the world can save itself using remarkable techniques and technology developed in Israel. Let There Be Water is essential reading. I highly recommend it.” —Michael Bloomberg“A really interesting account of the possibilities for technology to solve one of the greatest and underestimated challenges of our age.” —Tony Blair“Water scarcity is one of the most urgent threats to our economy and society. In Let There Be Water, Seth Siegel explores the crisis through the lens of a solution, telling the powerful story of how the people of Israel came together to overcome their water problems, so that the rest of the world can learn from their example and get ahead of the looming crisis.” —Arianna Huffington"Brilliant." —Bret Stephens, Pulitzer Prize-winning author“This extraordinary work will long be read by people grappling with water shortages and other seemingly insurmountable challenges.” —Shimon Peres, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former president of Israel“From the arid front lines of the freshwater scarcity crisis, Siegel provides an eye-opening account how Israel turned adversity into opportunity to become an innovative pioneer in the global quest for a new water paradigm.” —Steven Solomon, author, WATER: The Epic Struggle for Wealth, Power, and Civilization“Let There Be Water is an essential look at the unknown story of how Israel has avoided the coming global water crisis despite being mostly desert. Through smart policies, conservation, technology and a new water-focused export industry, this book shares water-independent Israel's lessons that every interested citizen and country needs to know.” —Dan Senor, co-author of the New York Times bestseller Start-Up Nation“Let There Be Water is the expertly and movingly told story of how Israeli specialists and NGOs greatly helped many Africans gain access to clean water. Seth Siegel shows how Israel uses its water skills both to help developing nations and as a tool of diplomacy. We all have so much to learn from this superb book.” —Ruhakana Rugunda, Prime Minister of Uganda“Fascinating account....A major contribution to this hotly debated issue and to broader questions of environmental policy.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred)“With current drought conditions across Western North America, this hard-won water wisdom should be of interest to concerned readers.” —Library Journal"Let There Be Water is an important work of non-fiction, a story that needs to be told. There are lessons in here for everyone." —Former U.S. Senator Mark L. Pryor“In the last 50 years, one place has taken water scarcity and turned it into water abundance—Israel. The Israelis did it with science, skill, and by thinking 50 years ahead. Seth M. Siegel’s book Let There Be Water pieces together the surprising story of how Israel made itself into a ‘water superpower’ with clarity, with verve, and most important, with a sense of hope for everyone else facing water problems.” —Charles Fishman, New York Times bestselling author of The Big Thirst: The secret life & turbulent future of water“Capturing Israel’s revolution from thirsting wasteland to thriving wellspring, Seth M. Siegel meticulously traces a fledgling nation’s quest to emerge as an international “water superpower,” in his new book Let There Be Water: Israel’s Solution for a Water- Starved World.” —The Jerusalem Post“Lively, informative new book.” —The Jewish Week“Israel’s determination to create water security is a half-century-long lesson in the liberating economic power of smart water, and a vivid illustration that scarcity doesn’t need to lead to deprivation. It can often drive exactly the opposite: innovation and even abundance.” —Strategy + Business“Israel’s determination to create water security is a half-century-long lesson in the liberating economic power of smart water, and a vivid illustration that scarcity doesn’t need to lead to deprivation. It can often drive exactly the opposite: innovation and even abundance.” —American Associates, Ben-Gurion University’ Impact magazine“This excellent, well-researched book enumerates the numerous 'bullets' Israel fired in its successful quest for water independence. Additionally, it offers the lessons learned in Israel as models for the world as climate change and population growth continue to stress the global supply of fresh water.” —San Diego Jewish Book World“A fact-filled and wholly fascinating account of the Jewish homeland’s ways with water.” —"This smart, engaging, and extremely feel-good book tells one of the stories that best illustrates how Israel consistently turns crises into opportunities and challenges into victories...Siegel’s accessible handling of technological issues, his focus on key individuals inside and outside of government, and his boundless enthusiasm for Israel’s accomplishments and international leadership make Let There Be Water a highly appealing read." —Jewish Book Council"A great read that addresses our water challenge." —George P. Bush, Texas Land Commissioner"Let There Be Water will change the way you think about Israel. Don’t miss it." —Lloyd Goldman, American Associates Ben-Gurion University of the Negev President
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Seth M. Siegel
SETH M. SIEGEL is a lawyer, activist, writer, and successful serial entrepreneur. His essays on water and other policy issues have appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, and in leading publications in Europe and Asia. Siegel is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He is a highly sought-after speaker on a range of topics including water policy, Middle East politics, and national security. He is married and lives in New York City.
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Let There Be Water
Israel’s Solution for a Water-Starved World
Seth M. Siegel
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Perennial Rice: In Search of a Greener, Hardier Staple Crop
Scientists have long sought to create a perennial rice that would avoid the damage to the land caused by the necessity of planting annually. Now, Chinese researchers appear close to developing this new breed of rice, an achievement that could have major environmental benefits.
by winifred birdTen thousand years ago, China’s ancient inhabitants harvested the grains of wild rice, a perennial grass growing up to 15 feet tall in bogs and streams. The grains were small and red, maturing in waves and often shattering into the water. Their descendants transformed that grain into the high-yielding annual crop that today feeds half the world’s population. When agronomist F. H. King toured China’s meticulously maintained rice terraces in 1909, he called the men and women who tilled them
“farmers of forty centuries.” To him, they seemed to have unlocked the secret to
Fengyi Hu shows a perennial rice plant, which has deeper roots than cultivated rice varieties.
conserving soil and maintaining agricultural fertility indefinitely.
Today, with the climate changing and far more land under intensive cultivation, rice farmers face a less certain future. In parts of Asia, melting glaciers threaten to dry up water supplies for irrigated paddies, while higher temperatures and unpredictable rainfall stress rain-fed fields. In uplands worldwide, where farmers grow rice on steep hillsides using slash-and-burn techniques, fallow periods are growing shorter and severe erosion is undermining both productivity and ecosystem health.
An international network of scientists is working toward a radical solution: perennial rice that yields grain for many years without replanting. By crossing domesticated rice with its wild predecessors, they hope to create deep-rooted varieties that hold soils in place, require less labor, and survive extremes of temperature and water supply. Plant breeders have been trying to do the same for wheat, sorghum, and other crops for decades.
With rice, the vision is finally nearing reality. Chinese scientists are preparing to release a variety that they say performs well in lowland paddies and, with more breeding work, could eventually thrive on marginal land as well.
“This line of research foreshadows a more sustainable way of raising crops in the uplands,” says Casiana Vera Cruz, an expert on upland agriculture at the
(IRRI) in the Philippines. She says the research could especially impact women, because they are most
Critics argue that perennial grains will never be able to feed the growing population.
often responsible for the hard work of hand-planting rice each spring on small mountain farms.
The biggest strides are taking place in China, where geneticist Fengyi Hu and his colleagues at the Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences are completing nearly a decade of trials on perennial rice varieties, , a strain they claim yields harvests close to those from conventional rice for four years or more. One agricultural company in Yunnan will test PR23 and similar varieties on more than 1,500 acres this year, and researchers are trying out PR23 in Laos as well. If Yunnan’s government approves the new rice for widespread release to farmers, it will be among the world’s first perennial grains to be grown beyond experimental fields.
Critics argue, however, that perennial grains like PR23 will never be able to feed the world’s growing population. Kenneth Cassman, an agronomist at the University of Nebraska whose work focuses on global food security, says devoting a greater share of the world’s limited agricultural research funding to perennial rice research would be a mistake.
“The goal is not just to increase agricultural productivity, the goal is to lift people out of poverty and provide adequate nutrition and health,” says Cassman, who worked at IRRI in the mid ‘90s.
“And there’s no way that low-yielding perennial grains grown on small, marginal farms can lift anyone out of poverty.” Instead, he argues that farmers should grow drought-resistant trees or pasture — not grains — on steep hillsides to stabilize soils, and scientists should focus on improving annual grain yields in environments that are truly suited to them, such as flat fields with adequate water.
Nevertheless, those involved with the perennial rice research in China say it could have global environmental implications. Millions of farmers in Asia and Africa grow rice in marginal upland areas at the cost of massive soil loss (steep, unterraced rice fields in Laos, for instance, lose soil around twenty times faster than the average global rate at which new soil forms). The same is true for other crops on other continents. Half the world’s population depends on marginal lands for food, according to a , and annual plowing often degrades these fields further. Meanwhile, population — and demand for grain — is growing rapidly.
One widely promoted answer is called “,” in which sustainable farming techniques such as cover crops and polycultures are used to increase yields without expanding the area of land under cultivation or the environmental harm it causes. But proponents of perennial grains argue that agriculture needs a more fundamental fix — in
Perennial grasses divert more energy toward building roots for long-term survival.
essence, a shift away from humanity’s 10,000-year-old habit of clearing the ground each year and starting anew.
“So many problems that we think of as being part of the package of agriculture — nutrient leakage, soil erosion, carbon loss, weed invasion — are actually attributes of this highly disturbed ecosystem,” says Timothy Crews, research director at the
in Kansas, which was founded in 1976 with the goal of developing grain fields that mimic prairies.
“They’re very predictable in ecology. And yet if you go out and you look at mature native [grassland] ecosystems you do not have those problems.”
Developing perennial versions of rice and other grains is a difficult task, however. While domesticated annual grains pour thirty to sixty percent of their energy into producing seeds, perennial grasses divert much more toward building roots for long-term survival. To boost perennial yields, Crews explains, plant breeders must coax perennials to allocate a bigger slice of the energy pie to seed production. They can also take advantage of the fact that perennials tend to have a larger energy pie to start with: They generally start growing earlier than annuals each spring and photosynthesize sunlight for more days each year.
For years, Land Institute staff were among only a scattering of scientists pursuing the development of perennial grains. Recently, though, interest has grown significantly. In 2013 the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations held an
on the topic, and is planning another this fall. The U.S. Agency for International Development is , and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is funding
on the risks and benefits of perennial wheat, sorghum, and pigeon pea in five African nations.
Still, progress is uneven due to differences in genetics, breeding techniques, growing conditions, and research interest for various grains. Perennial wheat — a key crop at the Land Institute — remains decades from yield parity with annual wheat, according to Crews. Perennial maize research is even farther behind. Among major staples, only perennial rice is “approaching reality,” according to the proceedings of the 2013 FAO meeting.
The first reports of crosses between perennial and annual rice emerged in the 1980s.
Inspired by these signs of success, IRRI established a breeding program in the mid-1990s aimed at helping poor subsistence farmers combat erosion on steep slopes. They dropped it in 2001 due to shifting research priorities, but by then, Dayun Tao, a geneticist at the Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, had made the promising cross that would eventually lead to PR23.
This was a significant achievement. Perennial and annual rice are closely related but distinct species, which makes crossing them difficult. Often, fertilization occurs but the embryo is not viable. Tao used what plant breeders call “embryo rescue,” a procedure that Crews likens to placing a premature baby in an incubator. Once the plants got through that
Perennial rice is not ready to withstand the rigors of poor soil and scant water in uplands.
bottleneck, future generations were able to reproduce normally.
The next step for Tao and his colleagues, including Fengyi Hu, was to improve the crosses and choose the best ones. With funding from China’s National Science Foundation and, more recently, the Land Institute, they launched a series of field trials, using conventional growing practices in typical lowland fields. Hu says PR23 and several other varieties are now good enough to release to farmers in Yunnan, although he has not yet published any papers on their performance in peer-reviewed journals.
Perennial rice is by no means ready to withstand the rigors of poor soil, scant water, and extreme temperatures in the uplands, however. One challenge will be bringing in genes that instruct the plant to become dormant and shut down leaf production during the dry seas another is adapting plants to the acid soils common in upland areas.
“As we go to more and more extreme environments, we’ll have to develop better and better materials with more traits to get them adapted,” says Len Wade, a perennial grain expert at Australia’s Charles Sturt University who is advising Hu’s team and coordinating the trials in Laos. “So there’s no one answer here. It takes a series of answers or a series of targets.”
Yet those further improvements are key, because the very places that most desperately need an alternative to conventional rice also tend to have the toughest growing conditions. In the mountains of northern Laos, for instance, farmers typically burn patches of forest in March or April and scatter rice seed over the ashes. Before the plants have had a chance to grow strong roots, heavy rains wash away soil and leach nutrients. Yields fall, weeds invade, and farmers move on after two to three years.
“Soil quality is decreasing very fast,” says Pheng Sengxua, a Lao agronomist involved in the trials, which for now are taking place only in more favorable southern areas where the terrain is flatter and soils better.
ALSO FROM YALE e360Scientists in the U.S. and elsewhere are conducting intensive experiments to cross hardy weeds with food crops such as rice and wheat. Their goal is to make these staples more resilient as higher temperatures, drought, and elevated CO2 levels pose new threats to the world’s food supply.
“The population has increased and the forest is being destroyed by upland farmers. The Lao government wants to decrease upland farming systems like slash and burn to reduce erosion and deforestation.”
That has led to government interest in the new varieties from China, which promise benefits that go beyond grain, Wade says. A rice crop that stayed in the ground for years on end could conserve soil and provide hay, fodder and fuel during the dry season, making it a key element of a sustainable farming system in hilly areas.
That vision — of a perennial rice tough enough to flourish in some of the world’s most difficult growing conditions — is still a distant one. But within the next few years, Chinese farmers could have access to PR23, a variety unlike any other in the long history of rice farming. For the perennial grains research community, that alone would be a significant milestone.
POSTED ON 05 Mar 2015 IN
Yes, the Land Institute in Kansas seems to be the
ones doing the most work with perennial grains.
They have had some involvement with developing
upland perennial rice in China.
Rupert Nelson
on 07 Mar 2015
It would be a great challenge for the scientist to implement perennial rice in a frequent climatic change condition.
M. A. Jalil
on 29 May 2015
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
is a freelance journalist living in Japan. She writes about the environment for the Japan Times, Environmental Health Perspectives, Christian Science Monitor and other publications. In previous articles for Yale Environment 360, she reported on Japan's
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