FROM: NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Boosts in productivity of corn and other crops modify Northern Hemisphere carbon dioxide cycle
Croplands help drive greater seasonal change in annual cycle
Each year in the Northern Hemisphere, levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide drop in the summer as plants "inhale," then climb again as they exhale after the growing season.
During the last 50 years, the size of this seasonal swing has increased by as much as half, for reasons that aren't fully understood.
Now a team of researchers has shown that agricultural production may generate up to a quarter of the increase in this seasonal carbon cycle, with corn playing a leading role.
"This study shows the power of modeling and data mining in addressing potential sources contributing to seasonal changes in carbon dioxide," says Liz Blood, program director for the National Science Foundation's MacroSystems Biology Program, which funded the research. "It points to the role of basic research in finding answers to complex problems."
In the Northern Hemisphere, there's a strong seasonal cycle of vegetation, says scientist Mark Friedl of Boston University (BU), senior author of a paper reporting the results in this week's issue of the journal Nature.
"Something is changing about this cycle," says Friedl. "Ecosystems are becoming more productive, pulling in more atmospheric carbon during the summer and releasing more during the dormant period."
Most of this annual change is attributed to the effects of higher temperatures driven by climate change--including longer growing seasons, quicker uptake of carbon by vegetation and the "greening" of higher latitudes with more vegetation.
"But that's not the whole story," says Josh Gray of BU, lead author of the paper. "We've put humans and croplands into the story."
The scientists gathered global production statistics for four leading crops--corn, wheat, rice and soybeans--that together represent about 64 percent of all calories consumed worldwide.
They found that production of these crops in the Northern Hemisphere has more than doubled since 1961 and translates to about a billion metric tons of carbon captured and released each year.
These croplands are "ecosystems on steroids," says Gray, noting that they occupy about 6 percent of the vegetative land area in the Northern Hemisphere, but are responsible for up to a quarter of the total increase in seasonal carbon exchange of atmospheric carbon dioxide.
The growth in seasonal variation doesn't have a huge impact on global terrestrial carbon uptake and release, he says, since carbon gathered by the crops is released each year.
However, understanding the effects of agricultural production, the researchers maintain, will help improve models of global climate, particularly in discovering how well ecosystems will buffer rising levels of carbon dioxide in the future.
The BU investigators collaborated with a team of scientists, including Eric Kort of the University of Michigan, Steve Frolking of the University of New Hampshire, Christopher Kucharik of the University of Wisconsin, Navin Ramankutty of the University of British Columbia and Deepak Ray of the University of Minnesota.
The work highlights extraordinary increases in crop production in recent decades.
"These indications of increased productivity speak well for agriculture," says Tom Torgersen, program director for the National Science Foundation's Water Sustainability and Climate Program, which also funded the research. "But such enhanced agricultural productivity makes significant demands on water supplies, which will require further investigation. "
Adds Friedl, "It's a remarkable story of what we've done in agriculture in general. And in particular in corn, which is one crop that's just exploded."
Corn alone accounts for two-thirds of the crop contribution to the increased seasonal exchange in carbon, he says. Almost 90 percent is produced in the midwestern United States and China.
"Over the last 50 years, the area of croplands in the Northern Hemisphere has been relatively stable, but production has intensified enormously," Friedl says.
"The fact that this land area can affect the composition of the atmosphere is an amazing fingerprint of human activity on the planet."
-NSF-
Media Contacts
Cheryl Dybas, NSF
Showing posts with label AGRICULTURE. Show all posts
Showing posts with label AGRICULTURE. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 25, 2014
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
THE FUTURE OF HYDROPONICS
FROM: NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Soil-free farming prepares next generation for Green Energy future
In a cramped city, growing a garden is a luxury. For some Boston teens, two square feet of space is all they need to grow up to 40 plants--without any soil. Boston College, with funding from NSF, is teaching teens the power of hydroponics
When Boston College Professor Mike Barnett first got students involved in hydroponics, he couldn't get them to go home.
"We charged them with the task of building a hydroponic system to grow 50 plants that would fit in a closet, and they wouldn't leave the lab." Barnett said. "At that point, we knew we were on to something."
Hydroponics is the process of growing food with nutrient-rich water instead of soil and is the basis for a project that high school students have been working on at Boston College since 2012.
Boston College's Urban Hydrofarmers project is part of its College Bound program, which prepares high school students for college by teaching them valuable skills in business and science.
With funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and in partnership with the STEM Garden Institute, Boston College chose to pursue hydroponics with teenagers because it involves all the basic disciplines students learn in high school.
The goal of the project is to motivate students to pursue science in higher education, according to NSF Program Director David Campbell.
"It addresses the ultimate goals of NSF by engaging young people in science and preparing the next generation of the scientific workforce," Campbell said.
About 60 high school students come to learn at Boston College's greenhouse every year. The program targets teens with average grades, Barnett said, and many of the students come from immigrant families. Some of these students would not reach college without the aid and skills the program provides, according to Campbell.
Students are a part of the growing process from start to finish, from designing the hydroponic systems to selling the produce they grew.
The greenhouse is 1200 square feet of growing space, Barnett said and can produce about 1,000 plants every two weeks. The produce is then sold at a farmers market.
Students run a stand at local farmers markets almost every Saturday, and have to step up to answer questions from customers who are skeptical about hydroponics, Barnett said.
For Stonehill College student Lori Phillips, these questions were both her favorite and most challenging experiences while in the program.
"The very first time the Hydroponics team went to sell at a farmers market, it was a hot, slow day, and we couldn't get any one to stop and hear us out," Phillips said. "I swallowed my fear and spoke out to an older woman about College Bound and the Hydroponic team's goal."
When the woman she spoke to that first day asked for Barnett's contact information to tell him how impressed she was, Phillips became more confident in her public speaking and now enjoys speaking up.
Students not only gain experience in public speaking by running the stand, but also business planning, according to Barnett.
The program lets the students decide how to spend the money made from the farmers markets. They learn how to run a business, according to Barnett, because they come to understand that they have to save up and invest in materials.
This business savvy, coupled with science learning, gives students a foot in the door in the green energy industry, Barnett said.
The project teaches the students how both wind and solar power can create a reliable source of energy for the hydroponics systems. Green energy also opens up the possibility to expand the hydroponics outside the greenhouse, Barnett said. Students have started five hydroponics systems on campus and a few more in the city, all powered by solar panels.
By combining green energy and hydroponics, students are taking part in an emerging market for locally grown produce.
Green energy, such as wind and solar, can heat greenhouses during off-seasons, so produce can be grown anywhere year-round, according to Barnett.
Barnett cited the increasing number of farmers markets and the farm-to-table movement as evidence of hydroponics' bright future.
"Now you can grow the produce for the same price as it's being shipped from California, but the difference it is it ends up being healthier, tasting better and being more nutritious," Barnett said. "It's not been picked and shipped for 3,000 miles. It's local."
With hydroponics, the space constraint and soil contamination found in urban areas is no longer a deterrent for growing local. According to Barnett, a person can grow 40 plants within a space of two square feet.
The project has given some young people the idea of starting hydroponics businesses of their own to bring local produce to their neighborhoods, according to Barnett.
For Phillips, the project has inspired her to get other students involved in hydroponics and even start a major for it at her college.
"I think that we've got the kids right at the cusp of what could be a really nice place for them to be," Barnett said, "in terms of capitalizing on an emerging market."
-- Kierstyn Schneck
-- Maria C. Zacharias, (703) 292-8454 mzachari@nsf.gov
Investigators
George Barnett
Eric Strauss
Elizabeth Bagnani
Catherine Wong
David Blustein
Related Institutions/Organizations
Boston College
Soil-free farming prepares next generation for Green Energy future
In a cramped city, growing a garden is a luxury. For some Boston teens, two square feet of space is all they need to grow up to 40 plants--without any soil. Boston College, with funding from NSF, is teaching teens the power of hydroponics
When Boston College Professor Mike Barnett first got students involved in hydroponics, he couldn't get them to go home.
"We charged them with the task of building a hydroponic system to grow 50 plants that would fit in a closet, and they wouldn't leave the lab." Barnett said. "At that point, we knew we were on to something."
Hydroponics is the process of growing food with nutrient-rich water instead of soil and is the basis for a project that high school students have been working on at Boston College since 2012.
Boston College's Urban Hydrofarmers project is part of its College Bound program, which prepares high school students for college by teaching them valuable skills in business and science.
With funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and in partnership with the STEM Garden Institute, Boston College chose to pursue hydroponics with teenagers because it involves all the basic disciplines students learn in high school.
The goal of the project is to motivate students to pursue science in higher education, according to NSF Program Director David Campbell.
"It addresses the ultimate goals of NSF by engaging young people in science and preparing the next generation of the scientific workforce," Campbell said.
About 60 high school students come to learn at Boston College's greenhouse every year. The program targets teens with average grades, Barnett said, and many of the students come from immigrant families. Some of these students would not reach college without the aid and skills the program provides, according to Campbell.
Students are a part of the growing process from start to finish, from designing the hydroponic systems to selling the produce they grew.
The greenhouse is 1200 square feet of growing space, Barnett said and can produce about 1,000 plants every two weeks. The produce is then sold at a farmers market.
Students run a stand at local farmers markets almost every Saturday, and have to step up to answer questions from customers who are skeptical about hydroponics, Barnett said.
For Stonehill College student Lori Phillips, these questions were both her favorite and most challenging experiences while in the program.
"The very first time the Hydroponics team went to sell at a farmers market, it was a hot, slow day, and we couldn't get any one to stop and hear us out," Phillips said. "I swallowed my fear and spoke out to an older woman about College Bound and the Hydroponic team's goal."
When the woman she spoke to that first day asked for Barnett's contact information to tell him how impressed she was, Phillips became more confident in her public speaking and now enjoys speaking up.
Students not only gain experience in public speaking by running the stand, but also business planning, according to Barnett.
The program lets the students decide how to spend the money made from the farmers markets. They learn how to run a business, according to Barnett, because they come to understand that they have to save up and invest in materials.
This business savvy, coupled with science learning, gives students a foot in the door in the green energy industry, Barnett said.
The project teaches the students how both wind and solar power can create a reliable source of energy for the hydroponics systems. Green energy also opens up the possibility to expand the hydroponics outside the greenhouse, Barnett said. Students have started five hydroponics systems on campus and a few more in the city, all powered by solar panels.
By combining green energy and hydroponics, students are taking part in an emerging market for locally grown produce.
Green energy, such as wind and solar, can heat greenhouses during off-seasons, so produce can be grown anywhere year-round, according to Barnett.
Barnett cited the increasing number of farmers markets and the farm-to-table movement as evidence of hydroponics' bright future.
"Now you can grow the produce for the same price as it's being shipped from California, but the difference it is it ends up being healthier, tasting better and being more nutritious," Barnett said. "It's not been picked and shipped for 3,000 miles. It's local."
With hydroponics, the space constraint and soil contamination found in urban areas is no longer a deterrent for growing local. According to Barnett, a person can grow 40 plants within a space of two square feet.
The project has given some young people the idea of starting hydroponics businesses of their own to bring local produce to their neighborhoods, according to Barnett.
For Phillips, the project has inspired her to get other students involved in hydroponics and even start a major for it at her college.
"I think that we've got the kids right at the cusp of what could be a really nice place for them to be," Barnett said, "in terms of capitalizing on an emerging market."
-- Kierstyn Schneck
-- Maria C. Zacharias, (703) 292-8454 mzachari@nsf.gov
Investigators
George Barnett
Eric Strauss
Elizabeth Bagnani
Catherine Wong
David Blustein
Related Institutions/Organizations
Boston College
Friday, October 31, 2014
USING COMPUTERS CAN MAKE EASIER COMPLICATED WATER RIGHTS TRADING
FROM: NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Selling and buying water rights
NSF Innovation Corps awardees founded the company Mammoth Trading to provide a neutral, centralized resource
It would be much easier if a computer could do it. Now, one can.
Scientists at the University of Nebraska and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have developed an algorithm that can match potential buyers and sellers, sift through the complexity of local physical and regulatory systems, and reach a fair deal designed especially for them. It also allows the negotiating parties to provide information confidentially during the process.
"It's a different way of matching buyers and sellers in places where there aren't established markets," says Nicholas Brozoviæ, director of policy at the Robert B. Daugherty Water for Food Institute and associate professor of agricultural economics at the University of Nebraska. "It's a different way of building a market for potential buyers and sellers of natural resources. It maintains confidentiality and it is structured in a way that is neutral and fair."
The National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded Brozoviæ's research focuses on using economic analysis to understand natural resource systems, with a special emphasis on water resources. He designs and evaluates management policies that can maintain or improve the condition of natural resources. Much involves collaborations with engineers, urban planners and others.
Mammoth Trading, a new company that grew out of his research, hopes to provide a neutral centralized place for both buyers and sellers interesting in trading water rights and other resource use rights. The goal is to craft each transaction by taking local community needs into account, as well as factors unique to the individuals involved.
There is a transaction fee associated with the market and any benefits from trading are split between buyer and seller, "which is not typically how brokerage works," Brozoviæ says. But "we view ours as a fairer system."
The company currently is developing a certified irrigated acreage market for groundwater rights in the Twin Platte Natural Resources District in Nebraska, as well as working on developing other systems, mostly in water quantity and quality, as well as other natural resources.
"Before we started, it was really difficult to identify those interested in buying or selling their rights," says Richael Young, company president, and an expert in environmental engineering and agricultural economics. "We provide a central hub for people. Right now, they spend a lot of time either calling up people, seeing if someone is interested in trading, or hiring a realtor, which can take months, and still may not tell you whether or not a person is eligible to trade."
Although the company is just getting started, the researchers see a future where the system will expand to other areas and natural resources.
"Part of our thinking is how we can scale this idea and broaden this scope to other environmental markets," Brozoviæ says. "Beyond this relatively narrow market of trading groundwater rights, there are many other natural resources that have the same features where a similar system could work, such as habitat markets or wetland mitigation markets, storm water management in urban areas, water quality in waste water treatment plants.
"There is a broader move within environmental regulations to move to market based systems," he adds. "If done correctly, it may be a cheaper way to achieve a better environmental outcome."
However, there can be considerable complexity in implementing environmental and resource use regulations using markets.
"For carbon, it's a pretty simple process, since the atmosphere is well mixed so it doesn't matter where carbon emissions occur," Young says. "But when you think about ground or surface water, those are highly localized resources. You can't have a trading scheme that allows people to trade wherever they are located, since there are physical laws that govern the movement of groundwater and surface water.
"So those are the kinds of rules we incorporate into the system to allow people to trade more effectively," she adds. "Our goal is to help businesses operate more efficiently within existing regulations. For now, we are focusing on groundwater. In the future, we hope to enter into markets for surface water and air pollutants."
One incentive for expansion to other areas is the fact that the market for trading groundwater permits is highly seasonal. "Once you've planted your seeds and made those decisions, you may not be interested in trading for more water rights," Young says.
NSF has supported their efforts with a $50,000 Innovation Corps (I-Corps) grant, awarded in 2013, which provides a set of activities and programs that prepare scientists and engineers to extend their focus beyond the laboratory into the commercial world.
The goal of the I-Corps program is to help researchers translate their discoveries into technologies with near-term benefits for the economy and society. It is a public-private partnership program that teaches grantees to identify valuable product opportunities that can emerge from academic research, and offers entrepreneurship training to student participants.
Mammoth Trading recently completed its first deal, and is working on others. "We expected it would take time for people to become familiar with our system, and how it works," Young says. "It surprised us how quickly people did hear about us. We got some trades earlier than expected, and we were able to get them through."
Brozoviæ agrees. "We now have the first trades in our system, which is exciting," he says. "Eventually we could do this nationwide, and potentially internationally."
-- Marlene Cimons, National Science Foundation
Investigators
Nicholas Brozovic
Ximing Cai
John Braden
Albert Valocchi
Stephen Gasteyer
Saturday, September 27, 2014
SECRETARY KERRY'S REMARKS AT GLOBAL ALLIANCE FOR CLIMATE-SMART AGRICULTURE
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Remarks at a Reception for the Global Alliance for Climate-Smart Agriculture
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Waldorf-Astoria Hotel
New York City
September 24, 2014
SECRETARY KERRY: Well, thank you. Listen, thank you very, very much for being patient and hanging in here, though I noticed a lot of you have glasses in your hand with some liquid in it and therefore you haven’t been completely deprived, I can tell.
This city during these days of UNGA does not lend itself well to diplomatic speed dating, and unfortunately, I sort of scheduled one too many. And I just came from a meeting with my counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, and obviously, we had a lot to talk about. And that’s why I’m running a little bit late, and I apologize for that.
Let me thank Nancy, Dr. Nancy Stetson, for her work, and I’ll say a word about her in a minute. But I’m also very, very privileged and I want to say thank you to the Dutch Government, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and to Agriculture Minister Sharon Dijksma. I’m very, very pleased, and her director-general is here somewhere. I don’t know, he was here a moment ago. I met him. There he is. (Applause.) But thank you so much for being here and being part of this and helping to launch this alliance. The Dutch Government is extraordinarily committed and forward-thinking about this kind of issue, and that’s exactly what we need to be right now, putting this critical connection, this nexus between climate change and food security, at the center of the agenda.
I wish it were otherwise. I’ve been involved in this effort – Nancy alluded to it – going back to the 1970s. The first thing I did when I returned from Vietnam was not protest the war, which I shortly did, but become active in Earth Day 1970, the first Earth Day, and helped to organize it in my home state of Massachusetts, when 20 million Americans came out and said we don’t want to live next to toxic waste sites, we don’t want to be getting cancer from Woburn dump, things like that in Massachusetts. Particularly we had the Cuyahoga River that lit on fire, literally.
And those 20 million people ultimately engaged in a way that became very political. They targeted the 12 worst voters in Congress, labeled them the “Dirty Dozen” and in the very next election beat seven of the 12. That is what brought us the Clean Air Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, Marine Mammal Protection Act, Coastal Zone Management Act, and actually created the Environmental Protection Agency we didn’t have when that first took place.
So there’s been a hell of a journey from there to here. And I went to Rio and the Earth Summit in the 1990s and so forth. Unfortunately, it was a voluntary process. It didn’t work and we now are where we are, the hottest year in history last year, the last ten years have been the hottest ten years in history. I mean, it’s an extraordinary statement about the lack of willpower of governments on a global basis, ours included, to have been able thus far to be able to do what we need.
I’m proud to say that President Obama is changing that. We are moving rapidly now. We have ten times the amount of solar power in place that we had five years ago. We have three times the amount of renewables in place that we had. We have new automobile standards, new building standards, so forth and so on.
Why do I mention all of this in the context of food security? Well, for the very simple reason that the real solution is not to be talking about just moving things and coming up with resistant seed and doing our work in the laboratory. The real solution is not to damage it in the first place and to be able to preserve an ecosystem that functions.
But we all know we’re on a path right now that’s probably going to make the – that deprives us of the right of not worrying about mitigation and deprives us of the opportunity to avoid adaptation. So we are where we are, and the only responsible thing that we can do as a consequence of that is work at this.
That’s why I brought Nancy Stetson on board, because Nancy and I worked for two decades side by side when I served in the Senate. And through her work on malaria, TB, and AIDS, principally, I saw her ability to be able to break down things that were very complex and multi-layered, and make them happen. You are looking at the woman who really wrote the first piece of AIDS legislation – no joke. And we passed it. We even got Jesse Helms to support it. And that became the foundation of what became known as PEPFAR. So Nancy Stetson, thank you for your leadership and your effort and everything you did. (Applause.)
So that’s what we’re going to try and do with this alliance. When climate change and food security present these new challenges that they do, we need new partnerships and new solutions in order to tackle them. And the vitality of our ecosystem, the ability of the ecosystem to provide billions of people with food, is under stress, regrettably, like never before.
I was chairman of the fisheries, oceans subcommittee for a long period of time in the Senate, and I saw what has been happening in the major fisheries of the world. Even as we went and tried to ban driftnet fishing and rewrite the Magnuson laws and do all these things – still overfished, still too much money chasing too few fish, still major shifts in the ecosystem as the result of increases in acidity, the acidification of the oceans, the changes in ocean currents, what’s happening with the melting of the icecaps and so forth has a profound impact on the future of food. And all you have to do is talk to farmers or even talk to garden club members in America and they will tell you how things that used to grow in certain places don’t grow anymore, how there’s been a migration of certain species and capacities for growth, a band in the center of America that’s moved north and south.
So the link is clear: Climate change affects how much food we’re able to produce, and it affects – and how much food we produce actually affects climate change at the same time. Now we see this drought that’s hitting in various parts of the world, but particularly in Central America.
And this alliance is going to try to bring capable partners together who have the ability to find solutions. Climate-smart agriculture, it’s that simple. And the World Bank and the FAO have been working together for a long time and making successful investments in drought-resistant corn, soybeans, other climate-resilient crops for a number of years now.
For our part, we have some of the most advanced laboratories and research institutions. And as Secretary Vilsack told all of you yesterday, we’re targeting more of our resources to support agricultural innovation. The President doubled down on this approach yesterday in his executive order, making support for climate resilience a first-tier priority across our development programs.
And if you look at what’s happening in Central America, you can understand why. Sixteen of 22 provinces in Guatemala have been declared by the government a state of emergency. Crop losses in El Salvador have now reached 60 percent of their crops. In Nicaragua, staples like corn and beans cost four times more today than what they cost last spring.
So at the State Department, we’re going to look immediately at what we can do to help in Central America and other parts of the world where we can find our partners to apply our talents to this challenge.
In Ethiopia, we’ve partnered with DuPont to help farmers increase maize production by 50 percent.
In Mali, we’re supporting an aggressive agroforestry program, helping farmers to tackle the problem of desertification, and promoting the planting of fruit and fodder and fuel-wood for income generation.
In Bangladesh, we’re investing with private sector partners in intensified rice production, and helping farmers to diversify into high-value, nutrient-rich commodities like fish. But again, fish – it’s going to be dependent on your overall management of the ecosystem and is it sustainable. It has to be done in a sustainable fashion.
So these are the kinds of successful investments in food security, innovation, and resilience that we plan to showcase to 20 million-plus visitors next year at the Milan Expo. And we hope to attract new partners and new investments in this effort in doing that.
Every nation has an ability to be able to play a part in this. I hate the idea that – I mean, I don’t want to see all our energy going – I want to see us do it because we have to. But I still preach the notion that we have time still to turn this around if we make tough choices about carbon, carbon pricing, where we’re going with respect to the overall issue of climate change, so we minimize the need to do this. And in the end, confronting these challenges means we’re going to have to, unfortunately, invent; we’re going to have to innovate. Maybe I shouldn’t say unfortunately because you benefit anyway, but it’s the wrong way to come at it, and I think everybody here knows that.
That said, we’re going to do it, and I’m proud to be part of this alliance. I’m proud for this announcement tonight, and I’m delighted that you’re all here to share in it. Let’s get the job done.
Thank you all very, very much. (Applause.)
Thursday, August 7, 2014
REMARKS BY SECRETARY KERRY AND BURUNDI PRESIDENT PIERRE NKURUNZIZA
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Remarks With Burundi President Pierre Nkurunziza Before Their Meeting
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Treaty Room
Washington, DC
August 4, 2014
SECRETARY KERRY: Good afternoon, everybody. It’s my great pleasure to welcome President Nkurunziza of Burundi, and I’m delighted to be able to have a chance to share some thoughts with him today.
We – the United States engages with our Burundi partners on a number of different fronts. First, we are working with them to augment their capacity with respect to law enforcement, the judiciary and military, to develop the institutions and the procedures that will protect citizens and establish a foundation for long-term national and regional stability, and this is a key effort; working on the protection of human rights and countering politically motivated violence; and we’ve been working very hard with our friends in Burundi on that.
We’re also working with the Independent National Electoral Commission to improve the quality of voter education and to enhance the training of electoral officials, as well as develop an electoral dispute resolution procedure in order to build confidence among the citizens in the electoral process. It’s still up to Burundi to secure the notion that elections are going to be free and fair and transparent and peaceful, but the U.S. intends to help where we can.
Finally, the United States provided more than 53 million in Fiscal Year 2013 funding for Burundi primarily to support health-related programs, including those directed at combating HIV/AIDS, malaria, malnutrition, and to provide increased maternal and child health and voluntary family planning efforts.
We also engaged with Burundi on a broader set of issues like conflict mitigation with youth, with very vulnerable youth; the Burundi deployment of peacekeeping missions, which we’re grateful for; and also improved productivity and profitability of the agriculture cycle. So we have a lot going on. There’s a lot of good work, and I look forward to talking with the President about those ways in which we can enhance this partnership. Thank you, Mr. President.
PRESIDENT NKURUNZIZA: (Via interpreter.) First of all, I would like to thank the United States of America for having hosted me and my delegation today. At the same time, I would like to use this opportunity to thank you for all of the support that the United States is providing us in Burundi to support us. And we are a post-conflict country which has had many difficulties in the past, but today we are happy the fact that we are back in peace and we have defense and security agreements. And we are helping other countries that are in difficulty, such as Somalia, Central Africa, or Cote d’Ivoire, but also South Sudan. And very soon, we will also be deployed in South Sudan. That proves that we are at peace, so everything that we receive from the United States, it’s a way of supporting us to move forward. And so I’m very happy that today we are being hosted by the Secretary of State to have an exchange together and to show how the United States and Burundi continue to work together to deal with all of the programs that we work on together. And we would like to thank you for the support that you’re providing Burundi for development and the stability of our country. Thank you very much.
We – the United States engages with our Burundi partners on a number of different fronts. First, we are working with them to augment their capacity with respect to law enforcement, the judiciary and military, to develop the institutions and the procedures that will protect citizens and establish a foundation for long-term national and regional stability, and this is a key effort; working on the protection of human rights and countering politically motivated violence; and we’ve been working very hard with our friends in Burundi on that.
We’re also working with the Independent National Electoral Commission to improve the quality of voter education and to enhance the training of electoral officials, as well as develop an electoral dispute resolution procedure in order to build confidence among the citizens in the electoral process. It’s still up to Burundi to secure the notion that elections are going to be free and fair and transparent and peaceful, but the U.S. intends to help where we can.
Finally, the United States provided more than 53 million in Fiscal Year 2013 funding for Burundi primarily to support health-related programs, including those directed at combating HIV/AIDS, malaria, malnutrition, and to provide increased maternal and child health and voluntary family planning efforts.
We also engaged with Burundi on a broader set of issues like conflict mitigation with youth, with very vulnerable youth; the Burundi deployment of peacekeeping missions, which we’re grateful for; and also improved productivity and profitability of the agriculture cycle. So we have a lot going on. There’s a lot of good work, and I look forward to talking with the President about those ways in which we can enhance this partnership. Thank you, Mr. President.
PRESIDENT NKURUNZIZA: (Via interpreter.) First of all, I would like to thank the United States of America for having hosted me and my delegation today. At the same time, I would like to use this opportunity to thank you for all of the support that the United States is providing us in Burundi to support us. And we are a post-conflict country which has had many difficulties in the past, but today we are happy the fact that we are back in peace and we have defense and security agreements. And we are helping other countries that are in difficulty, such as Somalia, Central Africa, or Cote d’Ivoire, but also South Sudan. And very soon, we will also be deployed in South Sudan. That proves that we are at peace, so everything that we receive from the United States, it’s a way of supporting us to move forward. And so I’m very happy that today we are being hosted by the Secretary of State to have an exchange together and to show how the United States and Burundi continue to work together to deal with all of the programs that we work on together. And we would like to thank you for the support that you’re providing Burundi for development and the stability of our country. Thank you very much.
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
MATHEMATICS AND THE MODEL STRAWBERRY
FROM: NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Strawberries with a thirst
Mathematicians help California drought-weary berry growers address water issues
Just as representative of this season's delights are those joys we associate with water: sparkling swimming pools, cooling mists of summer hoses and the scent of warm pavement suddenly accosted by raindrops.
As much as these two images fit snugly in sentimental minds, they do not coexist in California's berry farmlands, which reportedly produce 80 percent of the nation's strawberries.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, "In 119 years of recorded history, 2013 was the driest calendar year for the state of California." To be sure, California, and specifically coastal Central California, is never overflowing with water in any year, but recent, yearly water-supply needs caused serious concern.
In January 2014, California's snowpack, which normally provides about one-third of the water used by California's cities and farms, was measured at 12 percent, the lowest for January in more than a half-century of record keeping. Governor Jerry Brown declared a drought emergency for the state, long before the "dry season," which usually occurs during the summer months.
Then, on April 1, the California Department of Water Resources measured water content of statewide snowpack at 32 percent of normal expectations for that time of year. California's water managers saw the result as truly foreboding since April typically is considered the snowpack's peak when snow and ice begin to melt into streams and reservoirs, and conditions were only expected to worsen.
Drought conditions like these, occurring annually, prompted policymakers, conservationists, geologists, hydrologists, farmers and business owners to creatively address the state's water problems. And, in an interesting turn, mathematicians factored into this mix with one of the most unique perspectives of all.
The berry business
John Eiskamp, owner and president of JE Farms describes the Pajaro Valley in Central Coastal California as the "berry capital of the world." Strawberries reign supreme, followed by raspberries and then blackberries, but ultimately, it's a berry world in his Santa Cruz County.
"This is an agricultural area," he said. "It's the driver of the economy. It provides the majority of the jobs. It provides the majority of the support industries that are here for agriculture--the companies that sell the product, the supplies, and the inputs that we growers use to produce the crops."
So, water shortage issues--even for berries that aren't the thirstiest crops by a long shot--still need water to produce saleable, harvestable fruit. According to Eiskamp, agriculture represents 85 percent of the valley's water usage, but because of that the growers know they must be good stewards of the limited water supply. Not surprisingly, they already have explored various crop rotation and water conservation strategies. However, this problem only worsens as each year passes. So, in 2011, a National Science Foundation-funded math institute, the American Institute of Mathematics (AIM) in Palo Alto, Calif., got involved in what they describe as an "optimization problem."
Math: It's not just for spreadsheets and bottomlines
One of eight NSF-funded math institutes, AIM brings 800 mathematicians from around the world to Palo Alto each year to study a "whole variety of programs," according to its deputy director Estelle Basor. Small research groups with "applied" objectives come for weeklong stints, modeling neural effects related to migraine headaches, more efficient medical imaging or, in this case, improved water use in drought-stricken areas. Additionally, the institute spends even more time on its initial focus of "pure math" research.
"I grew up in California. My father was an apple grower, and my mother's family was also involved in farming," mathematician Basor said. "So many aspects to farming are difficult. There are so many unknowns--weather, what other people are doing in other countries, pests, and supply and demand. I'm not sure that a lot of the public actually realize the risks involved. So, if we [mathematicians] can just help smooth out some of the decision-making process and help solve a few of the problems that growers might have, I think it's a really good step forward."
So, Basor talked to Driscoll Associates, familiar to many as purveyors of of Driscoll's berries, and invited them to participate in an institute workshop that brought together 30 mathematicians from around the world to discuss sustainability problems. Nine of the participants worked on the berry problem, and along with three industry representatives, got the ball rolling. These collaborators then formed a smaller group to focus on the water supply's confined aquifer and its chronic overdraft of water that had persisted over many years.
"We were given a list of possible changes that could happen in terms of crop rotation, fallowing land, looking at developing recharge areas to capture rainfall to reduce the amount of water that's being taken out of the aquifer or the ground water region," said Katie Fowler, an associate professor of mathematics at Clarkson University in Potsdam, N.Y., and member of this math team.
She explained how they could look at the problem simplistically by just considering crops' water consumption and different planting strategies. But, more sophisticated, elegant modeling included soil properties, precipitation data, topography and run-off measurements. With essentially two tiers of data, they could create a model that minimized aquifer impact and found ways to recharge it naturally.
"The approach is an example of 'multi-objective optimization,'" she said. "We've developed three performance metrics. A person is going to want to try to make as much profit as possible using the least amount of water while meeting market demands. And those [goals] are naturally competing. So our most recent work has been towards offering a set of possible solutions with a clear description of those trade-offs."
In fact, another researcher, Lea Jenkins, an associate professor in mathematical sciences at Clemson University, describes the model as "stochastic," which means values of variables are random, versus "deterministic," when a problem has parameters with fixed values.
"This problem is about math," said Dan Balbas, vice president of operations for Reiter Affiliated Companies, a grower for Driscoll's, and who attended the 2011 workshop. "You've got a given resource, so how do you maximize it to maintain sustainability and do the right thing from an economic and environmental standpoint, marrying the two. It's math. It really is math. I think the hard thing is getting the input numbers right because it's a tricky thing to quantify, but it's absolutely a mathematical situation. It's how much water do we have, and how do we best use it. It's numbers."
And it's involvement from growers that make this process work.
"Part of the reason we like to come out here is to get farmers to help us--to make sure that the models we use are reasonable or are somewhat accurate and represent a reality that they're living in," Jenkins said. "And the best we can do is give them possible solutions to a very complicated problem and then ask them how they can help us improve those solutions."
Interestingly enough, as the mathematicians talk about their process thus far, they admit that while they have collaborated with a variety of players in this issue, they still need to bring in sociologists and environmental economists to improve their model.
A better future for berries
So, this team of mathematicians has now created models that help identify which crops to plant where and when. With iPad in hand, growers like Eiskamp and Balbas can go to the fields connecting to wireless tensiometers in real time to essentially tell them when plants have been watered sufficiently, minimizing waste and ensuring fertilizers stay in the root zone where plants can most efficiently access them and keep from contaminating the water aquifer.
"The thing the math institute best did was shed light on per-unit of water--what is the best crop to grow?" Balbas said. "We found that raspberries--from a per-unit-of-water standpoint--were a better crop, so we've grown the raspberry program a little bit. Of course, that changed the economics. In fact we have so many more raspberries now, it would be good to do the analysis again. It's a moving target. There are a lot more raspberries in the valley, partly because of water, but partly because it was just good business."
Ultimately, this mathematical perspective to addressing irrigation, crop rotation and drought mitigation is something that can be applied elsewhere.
"You have a set of crops that you're planting where you are realizing a profit," Jenkins said. "The crops need certain resources to survive. It might be a berry farm here, but it might be a wheat farm in the Midwest. And it might be a soy bean or a corn farm in the Southeast."
The nuances that customize the models come with specific local or state government regulations or water management requirements.
"Water is a resource that needs to be conserved, and there are competing interests," Jenkins added. "There are environmental and ecological interests associated with keeping certain wetlands that might go dry if an underlying aquifer is overused. And the economy of a local region may depend on the economies of the farmers, so if the farmers aren't realizing the profit they need, then that impacts the economy of the whole region.
"There are not only ag users, but also urban users and recreational users. To get a unified perspective, ultimately everybody needs to get involved."
-- Ivy F. Kupec
Investigators
Lea Jenkins
David Farmer
Katie Fowler
Estelle Basor
J. Brian Conrey
Related Institutions/Organizations
American Institute of Mathematics
Sunday, June 22, 2014
SCIENTIST WINS WORLD FOOD PRIZE FOR INCREASING WORLD WHEAT PRODUCTION
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Plant Scientist, Dr. Sanjaya Rajaram, Wins the 2014 Annual World Food Prize
Media Note
Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
June 18, 2014
Secretary of State John Kerry delivered the keynote address at a ceremony at the U.S. Department of State on June 18, where eminent plant scientist, Dr. Sanjaya Rajaram of India and Mexico, was named winner of the 2014 World Food Prize for increasing world wheat production by more than 200 million tons in the years following the Green Revolution, which has had a far-reaching impact in alleviating world hunger.
Dr. Rajaram’s breakthrough achievement in successfully cross breeding winter and spring wheat varieties, which were distinct gene pools that had been isolated from one another for hundreds of years, led to his developing plants that have higher yields and a broad genetic base. More than 480 high-yielding wheat varieties bred by Dr. Rajaram have been released in 51 countries on six continents and have been widely adopted by small- and large-scale farmers alike. Dr. Rajaram followed Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Dr. Norman E. Borlaug at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, CIMMYT, leading its Wheat Program from 1976 to 2001.
Assistant Secretary for Economic and Business Affairs Charles Rivkin hosted the event, and World Food Prize Foundation President and former U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia Kenneth M. Quinn announced the winner. This marks the 11th year the State Department has hosted the World Food Prize announcement.
Secretary Kerry said, “When you do the math, when our planet needs to support two billion more people in the next three decades, it’s not hard to figure out: This is the time for a second green revolution. That’s why Dr. Sanjaya Rajaram is being honored with the World Food Prize. We are grateful for the hundreds of new species of wheat Dr. Rajaram developed, which deliver 200 million more tons of grain to global markets each year and feed millions across the world.”
Dr. Rajaram’s work serves as an inspiration to us all to do more, whether in the private or public sector. Through Feed the Future, a presidential global hunger and food security initiative, the United States is establishing a foundation for lasting progress against global hunger. With a focus on smallholder farmers, particularly women, Feed the Future supports partner countries in developing their agriculture sectors to spur economic growth, increase incomes, and reduce hunger, poverty, and undernutrition. Feed the Future supports a research agenda to harness scientific innovation and technology in agriculture.
Ambassador Quinn said, "The 2014 World Food Prize Laureate is an individual who worked closely with Dr. Borlaug in Mexico and who then carried forward and extended his work, breaking new ground with his own achievements. As we celebrate the United Nations International Year of Family Farming, it is most fitting that the 2014 World Food Prize Laureate is an individual who has truly fulfilled Dr. Borlaug’s last words: ’Take it to the farmer.’”
This year marks the 28th anniversary of the $250,000 World Food Prize, which recognizes individuals who have advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity or availability of food in the world.
The World Food Prize was established in 1986 by Dr. Borlaug in order to focus the world’s attention on hunger and on those whose work has significantly helped efforts to end it.
Dr. Borlaug earned the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 for his work as a plant breeder and for taking new agricultural practices to developing nations around the world. Each year, more than 4,000 institutions and organizations worldwide are invited to nominate candidates for the prize. The award will be formally presented in a ceremony in October at the Iowa State Capitol in Des Moines, Iowa.
The World Food Prize is guided by a distinguished Council of Advisors that includes former Presidents Jimmy Carter and George H. W. Bush.
Dr. Rajaram’s breakthrough achievement in successfully cross breeding winter and spring wheat varieties, which were distinct gene pools that had been isolated from one another for hundreds of years, led to his developing plants that have higher yields and a broad genetic base. More than 480 high-yielding wheat varieties bred by Dr. Rajaram have been released in 51 countries on six continents and have been widely adopted by small- and large-scale farmers alike. Dr. Rajaram followed Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Dr. Norman E. Borlaug at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, CIMMYT, leading its Wheat Program from 1976 to 2001.
Assistant Secretary for Economic and Business Affairs Charles Rivkin hosted the event, and World Food Prize Foundation President and former U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia Kenneth M. Quinn announced the winner. This marks the 11th year the State Department has hosted the World Food Prize announcement.
Secretary Kerry said, “When you do the math, when our planet needs to support two billion more people in the next three decades, it’s not hard to figure out: This is the time for a second green revolution. That’s why Dr. Sanjaya Rajaram is being honored with the World Food Prize. We are grateful for the hundreds of new species of wheat Dr. Rajaram developed, which deliver 200 million more tons of grain to global markets each year and feed millions across the world.”
Dr. Rajaram’s work serves as an inspiration to us all to do more, whether in the private or public sector. Through Feed the Future, a presidential global hunger and food security initiative, the United States is establishing a foundation for lasting progress against global hunger. With a focus on smallholder farmers, particularly women, Feed the Future supports partner countries in developing their agriculture sectors to spur economic growth, increase incomes, and reduce hunger, poverty, and undernutrition. Feed the Future supports a research agenda to harness scientific innovation and technology in agriculture.
Ambassador Quinn said, "The 2014 World Food Prize Laureate is an individual who worked closely with Dr. Borlaug in Mexico and who then carried forward and extended his work, breaking new ground with his own achievements. As we celebrate the United Nations International Year of Family Farming, it is most fitting that the 2014 World Food Prize Laureate is an individual who has truly fulfilled Dr. Borlaug’s last words: ’Take it to the farmer.’”
This year marks the 28th anniversary of the $250,000 World Food Prize, which recognizes individuals who have advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity or availability of food in the world.
The World Food Prize was established in 1986 by Dr. Borlaug in order to focus the world’s attention on hunger and on those whose work has significantly helped efforts to end it.
Dr. Borlaug earned the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 for his work as a plant breeder and for taking new agricultural practices to developing nations around the world. Each year, more than 4,000 institutions and organizations worldwide are invited to nominate candidates for the prize. The award will be formally presented in a ceremony in October at the Iowa State Capitol in Des Moines, Iowa.
The World Food Prize is guided by a distinguished Council of Advisors that includes former Presidents Jimmy Carter and George H. W. Bush.
Sunday, February 9, 2014
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT OBAMA AT SIGNING OF NEW FARM BILL
FROM: THE WHITE HOUSE
Remarks by the President at Signing of the Farm Bill -- MI
Michigan State University
East Lansing, Michigan
FEBRUARY 7, 2014
2:16 P.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: Hello, Spartans! (Applause.) Go, Green!
AUDIENCE: Go, White!
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you so much. Everybody have a seat here.
It’s good to be at Michigan State. Thank you, Ben, for that wonderful introduction. Give Ben a big round of applause. (Applause.) He’s got his beautiful family right here. How did dad do? Was he pretty good? Yes, there he is. He did good? I thought he did great.
It is good to be in East Lansing. It’s good to be with all of you here today. I’m here because I’ve heard about all the great things that you’re doing. And I want to thank Mayor Triplett and President Simon for hosting us.
I am also here to do some scouting on my brackets. (Laughter and applause.) I just talked to Coach Izzo -- Spartans are looking pretty good. I know things were a little wild for a while, had some injuries. But the truth is that Coach Izzo, he always paces so that you peak right at the tournament. (Applause.) That’s a fact. Then I got a chance to meet Mark Dantonio. (Applause.) So you’ve already got a Rose Bowl victory. (Applause.) You guys, you’re greedy. (Laughter.) You want to win everything.
But it’s wonderful to be here. I love coming to Michigan. Mainly I love coming to Michigan because of the people. But I also love coming here because there are few places in the country that better symbolize what we’ve been through together over these last four, five years.
The American auto industry has always been the heartbeat of the Michigan economy and the heart of American manufacturing. So when that heartbeat was flat-lining, we all pulled together, all of us -- autoworkers who punched in on the line, management who made tough decisions to restructure, elected officials like Gary Peters and Mark Schauer who believed that -- (applause) -- folks who believed that rescuing America’s most iconic industry was the right thing to do.
And today, thanks to your grit and your ingenuity and dogged determination, the American auto industry’s engines are roaring again and we are building the best cars in the world again. And some plants are running three shifts around the clock -- something that nobody would have imagined just a few years ago. (Applause.)
I just had lunch with Detroit’s new Mayor, Mike Duggan. (Applause.) He told me if there’s one thing that he wants everybody to know, it’s that Detroit is open for business. And I have great confidence that he’s going to provide the leadership that we need. (Applause.) Really proud of him. The point is we’ve all had to buckle down. We’ve all had to work hard. We’ve had to fight our way back these past five years. And in a lot of ways, we are now better positioned for the 21st century than any other country on Earth.
This morning, we learned that our businesses in the private sector created more than 140,000 jobs last month, adding up to about 8.5 million new jobs over the past four years. (Applause.) Our unemployment rate is now the lowest it’s been since before I was first elected. Companies across the country are saying they intend to hire even more folks in the months ahead. And that’s why I believe this can be a breakthrough year for America.
And I’ve come here today to sign a bill that hopefully means folks in Washington feel the same way -- that instead of wasting time creating crises that impede the economy, we’re going to have a Congress that’s ready to spend some time creating new jobs and new opportunities, and positioning us for the future and making sure our young people can take advantage of that future.
And that’s important, because even though our economy has been growing for four years now, even though we’ve been adding jobs for four years now, what’s still true -- something that was true before the financial crisis, it’s still true today -- is that those at the very top of the economic pyramid are doing better than ever, but the average American’s wages, salaries, incomes haven’t risen in a very long time. A lot of Americans are working harder and harder just to get by -- much less get ahead -- and that’s been true since long before the financial crisis and the Great Recession.
And so we’ve got to reverse those trends. We’ve got to build an economy that works for everybody, not just a few. We’ve got to restore the idea of opportunity for all people -- the idea that no matter who you are, what you look like, where you came from, how you started out, what your last name is, you can make it if you’re willing to work hard and take responsibility. That’s the idea at the heart of this country. That’s what’s at stake right now. That’s what we’ve got to work on. (Applause.)
Now, the opportunity agenda I laid out in my State of the Union address is going to help us do that. It’s an agenda built around four parts. Number one: More new jobs in American manufacturing, American energy, American innovation, American technology. A lot of what you’re doing here at Michigan State helps to spur on that innovation in all sorts of areas that can then be commercialized into new industries and to create new jobs.
Number two: Training folks with the skills to fill those jobs -- something this institution does very well.
Number three: Guaranteeing access to a world-class education for every child, not just some. That has to be a priority. (Applause.) That means before they even start school, we’re working on pre-K that’s high quality and gets our young people prepared, and then takes them all the way through college so that they can afford it, and beyond.
Number four: Making sure our economy rewards honest work with wages you can live on, and savings you can retire on, and, yes, health insurance that is there for you when you need it. (Applause.)
Now, some of this opportunity agenda that I put forward will require congressional action, it’s true. But as I said at the State of the Union, America does not stand still; neither will I. And that’s why, over the past two weeks, I’ve taken steps without legislation, without congressional action, to expand opportunity for more families. We’ve created a new way for workers to start their own retirement savings. We’ve helped to make sure all of our students have high-speed broadband and high-tech learning tools that they need for this new economy.
But I’ve also said I’m eager to work with Congress wherever I can -- because the truth of the matter is, is that America works better when we’re working together. And Congress controls the purse strings at the federal level and a lot of the things that we need to do require congressional action.
And that is why I could not be prouder of our leaders who are here today. Debbie in particular, I could not be prouder of your own Debbie Stabenow, who has done just extraordinary work. (Applause.) We all love Debbie for a lot of reasons. She’s been a huge champion of American manufacturing but really shepherded through this farm bill, which was a very challenging piece of business. She worked with Republican Senator Thad Cochran, who I think was very constructive in this process. We had Representatives Frank Lucas, a Republican, working with Collin Peterson, a Democrat. We had a terrific contribution from our own Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, who deserves a big round of applause. (Applause.)
And so Congress passed a bipartisan farm bill that is going to make a big difference in communities all across this country. And just so they don’t feel left out, I want to recognize one of your congressmen, who’s doing an outstanding job -- Dan Kildee. (Applause.) And somebody who was just a wonderful mentor to me when I was in the Senate and has been just a great public servant, not just for your state, but for the entire country -- Carl Levin. (Applause.) He’s always out there, especially when it comes to our men and women in uniform. We’re very proud of him. (Applause.)
And while we’re at it, we got a couple of out-of-towners -- Pat Leahy from Vermont -- there are a lot of dairy farms up there, so he had something to do with it. (Applause.) Amy Klobuchar from Minnesota. (Applause.) All that cold air is blowing from Minnesota down into -- (laughter).
Now, despite its name, the farm bill is not just about helping farmers. Secretary Vilsack calls it a jobs bill, an innovation bill, an infrastructure bill, a research bill, a conservation bill. It’s like a Swiss Army knife. (Laughter.) It’s like Mike Trout -- for those of you who know baseball. (Laughter.) It’s somebody who’s got a lot of tools. It multitasks. It’s creating more good jobs, gives more Americans a shot at opportunity. And there are two big ways in which it does so.
First, the farm bill lifts up our rural communities. Over the past five years, thanks to the hard work and know-how of America’s farmers, the best in the world, we’ve had the strongest stretch of farm exports in our history. And when I’m traveling around the world, I’m promoting American agriculture. And as a consequence, we are selling more stuff to more people than ever before. Supports about 1 million American jobs; what we grow here and that we sell is a huge boost to the entire economy, but particularly the rural economy.
Here at Michigan State, by the way, you are helping us to do even more. So I just got a tour of a facility where you’re working with local businesses to produce renewable fuels. You’re helping farmers grow crops that are healthier and more resistant to disease. Some students are even raising their own piglets on an organic farm. When I was in college, I lived in a pig sty -- (laughter) -- but I didn't work in one. So I’m impressed by that. (Laughter.) That's no joke, by the way. (Laughter and applause.) Your hygiene improves as you get older. (Laughter.)
So we’re seeing some big advances in American agriculture. And today, by the way, I’m directing my administration to launch a new “Made in Rural America” initiative to help more rural businesses expand and hire and sell more products stamped “Made in the USA” to the rest of the world -- because we’ve got great products here that need to be sold and we can do even more to sell around the world. (Applause.)
But even with all this progress, too many rural Americans are still struggling. Right now, 85 percent of counties experience what’s called “persistent poverty.” Those are in rural areas. Before I was elected President, I represented Illinois, home of a couple of your Big Ten rivals, but also a big farming state. And over the years, I’ve seen how hard it can be to be a farmer. There are a lot of big producers who are doing really well, but there are even more small farms, family farms, where folks are just scratching out a living and increasingly vulnerable to difficulties in financing and all the inputs involved -- farmers sometimes having to work off the farm, they’ve got a couple of jobs outside the farm just to get health care, just to pay the bills, trying to keep it in the family, and it’s very hard for young farmers to get started.
And in these rural communities, a lot of young people talk about how jobs are so scarce, even before the recession hit, that they feel like they’ve got to leave in order to have opportunity. They can't stay at home, they’ve got to leave.
So that's why this farm bill includes things like crop insurance, so that when a disaster like the record drought that we’re seeing across much of the West hits our farmers, they don’t lose everything they’ve worked so hard to build. This bill helps rural communities by investing in hospitals and schools, affordable housing, broadband infrastructure -- all the things that help attract more businesses and make life easier for working families.
This bill supports businesses working to develop cutting-edge biofuels -- like some of the work that's being done here at Michigan State. That has the potential to create jobs and reduce our dependence on foreign oil. It boosts conservation efforts so that our children and grandchildren will be able to enjoy places like the Mississippi River Valley and Chesapeake Bay.
It supports local food by investing in things like farmers markets and organic agriculture -- which is making my wife very happy. And when Michelle is happy, I don't know about everybody being happy, but I know I'm happy. (Laughter and applause.) And so it's giving smaller producers, local producers, folks like Ben, the opportunity to sell more of their products directly, without a bunch of processing and distributors and middlemen that make it harder for them to achieve. And it means that people are going to have healthier diets, which is, in turn, going to reduce incidents of childhood obesity and keep us healthier, which saves us all money.
It does all this while reforming our agricultural programs, so this bill helps to clamp down on loopholes that allowed people to receive benefits year after year, whether they were planting crops or not. And it saves taxpayers hard-earned dollars by making sure that we only support farmers when disaster strikes or prices drop. It's not just automatic.
So that’s the first thing this farm bill does -- it helps rural communities grow; it gives farmers some certainty; it puts in place important reforms.
The second thing this farm bill does -- that is huge -- is help make sure America’s children don’t go hungry. (Applause.) And this is where Debbie’s work was really important. One study shows that more than half of all Americans will experience poverty at some point during their adult lives. Now, for most folks that's when you're young and you're eating ramen all the time. But for a lot of families, a crisis hits, you lose your job, somebody gets sick, strains on your budget -- you have a strong work ethic, but it might take you six months, nine months, a year to find a job. And in the meantime, you’ve got families to feed.
That’s why, for more than half a century, this country has helped Americans put food on the table when they hit a rough patch, or when they’re working hard but aren’t making enough money to feed their kids. They’re not looking for a handout, these folks, they’re looking for a hand up -- (applause) -- a bridge to help get them through some tough times. (Applause.)
And we sure don't believe that children should be punished when parents are having a tough time. As a country, we’re stronger when we help hardworking Americans get back on their feet, make sure that children are getting the nutrition that they need so that they can learn what they need in order to be contributing members of our society.
That’s the idea behind what’s known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. A large majority of SNAP recipients are children, or the elderly, or Americans with disabilities. A lot of others are hardworking Americans who need just a little help feeding their families while they look for a job or they’re trying to find a better one. And in 2012, the SNAP program kept nearly 5 million people -- including more than 2 million children -- out of poverty. (Applause.) Think about that -- 5 million people.
That’s why my position has always been that any farm bill I sign must include protections for vulnerable Americans, and thanks to the good work of Debbie and others, this bill does that. (Applause.) And by giving Americans more bang for their buck at places like farmers markets, we’re making it easier for working families to eat healthy foods and we're supporting farmers like Ben who make their living growing it. So it’s creating new markets for produce farmers, and it means that people have a chance to directly buy from their farmers the kind of food that’s going to keep them healthy.
And the truth is a lot of folks go through tough times at some points in their lives. That doesn’t mean they should go hungry. Not in a country like America. So investing in the communities that grow our food, helping hardworking Americans put that food on the table -- that’s what this farm bill does, all while reducing our deficits through smart reforms.
It doesn’t include everything that I’d like to see. And I know leaders on both sides of the aisle feel the same way. But it’s a good sign that Democrats and Republicans in Congress were able to come through with this bill, break the cycle of short-sighted, crisis-driven partisan decision-making, and actually get this stuff done. (Applause.) That's a good sign.
And that’s the way you should expect Washington to work. That’s the way Washington should continue to work. Because we’ve got more work to do. We’ve got more work to do to potentially make sure that unemployment insurance is put in place for a lot of folks out there who need it. (Applause.) We’ve got more work to do to pass a minimum wage. We’ve got more work to do to do immigration reform, which will help farmers like Ben. (Applause.)
So let’s keep the momentum going here. And in the weeks ahead, while Congress is deciding what’s next, I’m going to keep doing everything I can to strengthen the middle class, build ladders of opportunity in the middle class. And I sure hope Congress will join me because I know that’s what you’re looking for out of your elected officials at every level. (Applause.)
So thank you, everybody. God bless you. I’m now going to sign this farm bill. (Applause.)
Hold on a second, I forgot to mention Marcia Fudge is here. I wasn’t sure whether she came to the event. I knew she flew in with me. She does great work -- (applause) -- out of the great state of Ohio.
(The bill is signed.) (Applause.)
END
Remarks by the President at Signing of the Farm Bill -- MI
Michigan State University
East Lansing, Michigan
FEBRUARY 7, 2014
2:16 P.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: Hello, Spartans! (Applause.) Go, Green!
AUDIENCE: Go, White!
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you so much. Everybody have a seat here.
It’s good to be at Michigan State. Thank you, Ben, for that wonderful introduction. Give Ben a big round of applause. (Applause.) He’s got his beautiful family right here. How did dad do? Was he pretty good? Yes, there he is. He did good? I thought he did great.
It is good to be in East Lansing. It’s good to be with all of you here today. I’m here because I’ve heard about all the great things that you’re doing. And I want to thank Mayor Triplett and President Simon for hosting us.
I am also here to do some scouting on my brackets. (Laughter and applause.) I just talked to Coach Izzo -- Spartans are looking pretty good. I know things were a little wild for a while, had some injuries. But the truth is that Coach Izzo, he always paces so that you peak right at the tournament. (Applause.) That’s a fact. Then I got a chance to meet Mark Dantonio. (Applause.) So you’ve already got a Rose Bowl victory. (Applause.) You guys, you’re greedy. (Laughter.) You want to win everything.
But it’s wonderful to be here. I love coming to Michigan. Mainly I love coming to Michigan because of the people. But I also love coming here because there are few places in the country that better symbolize what we’ve been through together over these last four, five years.
The American auto industry has always been the heartbeat of the Michigan economy and the heart of American manufacturing. So when that heartbeat was flat-lining, we all pulled together, all of us -- autoworkers who punched in on the line, management who made tough decisions to restructure, elected officials like Gary Peters and Mark Schauer who believed that -- (applause) -- folks who believed that rescuing America’s most iconic industry was the right thing to do.
And today, thanks to your grit and your ingenuity and dogged determination, the American auto industry’s engines are roaring again and we are building the best cars in the world again. And some plants are running three shifts around the clock -- something that nobody would have imagined just a few years ago. (Applause.)
I just had lunch with Detroit’s new Mayor, Mike Duggan. (Applause.) He told me if there’s one thing that he wants everybody to know, it’s that Detroit is open for business. And I have great confidence that he’s going to provide the leadership that we need. (Applause.) Really proud of him. The point is we’ve all had to buckle down. We’ve all had to work hard. We’ve had to fight our way back these past five years. And in a lot of ways, we are now better positioned for the 21st century than any other country on Earth.
This morning, we learned that our businesses in the private sector created more than 140,000 jobs last month, adding up to about 8.5 million new jobs over the past four years. (Applause.) Our unemployment rate is now the lowest it’s been since before I was first elected. Companies across the country are saying they intend to hire even more folks in the months ahead. And that’s why I believe this can be a breakthrough year for America.
And I’ve come here today to sign a bill that hopefully means folks in Washington feel the same way -- that instead of wasting time creating crises that impede the economy, we’re going to have a Congress that’s ready to spend some time creating new jobs and new opportunities, and positioning us for the future and making sure our young people can take advantage of that future.
And that’s important, because even though our economy has been growing for four years now, even though we’ve been adding jobs for four years now, what’s still true -- something that was true before the financial crisis, it’s still true today -- is that those at the very top of the economic pyramid are doing better than ever, but the average American’s wages, salaries, incomes haven’t risen in a very long time. A lot of Americans are working harder and harder just to get by -- much less get ahead -- and that’s been true since long before the financial crisis and the Great Recession.
And so we’ve got to reverse those trends. We’ve got to build an economy that works for everybody, not just a few. We’ve got to restore the idea of opportunity for all people -- the idea that no matter who you are, what you look like, where you came from, how you started out, what your last name is, you can make it if you’re willing to work hard and take responsibility. That’s the idea at the heart of this country. That’s what’s at stake right now. That’s what we’ve got to work on. (Applause.)
Now, the opportunity agenda I laid out in my State of the Union address is going to help us do that. It’s an agenda built around four parts. Number one: More new jobs in American manufacturing, American energy, American innovation, American technology. A lot of what you’re doing here at Michigan State helps to spur on that innovation in all sorts of areas that can then be commercialized into new industries and to create new jobs.
Number two: Training folks with the skills to fill those jobs -- something this institution does very well.
Number three: Guaranteeing access to a world-class education for every child, not just some. That has to be a priority. (Applause.) That means before they even start school, we’re working on pre-K that’s high quality and gets our young people prepared, and then takes them all the way through college so that they can afford it, and beyond.
Number four: Making sure our economy rewards honest work with wages you can live on, and savings you can retire on, and, yes, health insurance that is there for you when you need it. (Applause.)
Now, some of this opportunity agenda that I put forward will require congressional action, it’s true. But as I said at the State of the Union, America does not stand still; neither will I. And that’s why, over the past two weeks, I’ve taken steps without legislation, without congressional action, to expand opportunity for more families. We’ve created a new way for workers to start their own retirement savings. We’ve helped to make sure all of our students have high-speed broadband and high-tech learning tools that they need for this new economy.
But I’ve also said I’m eager to work with Congress wherever I can -- because the truth of the matter is, is that America works better when we’re working together. And Congress controls the purse strings at the federal level and a lot of the things that we need to do require congressional action.
And that is why I could not be prouder of our leaders who are here today. Debbie in particular, I could not be prouder of your own Debbie Stabenow, who has done just extraordinary work. (Applause.) We all love Debbie for a lot of reasons. She’s been a huge champion of American manufacturing but really shepherded through this farm bill, which was a very challenging piece of business. She worked with Republican Senator Thad Cochran, who I think was very constructive in this process. We had Representatives Frank Lucas, a Republican, working with Collin Peterson, a Democrat. We had a terrific contribution from our own Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, who deserves a big round of applause. (Applause.)
And so Congress passed a bipartisan farm bill that is going to make a big difference in communities all across this country. And just so they don’t feel left out, I want to recognize one of your congressmen, who’s doing an outstanding job -- Dan Kildee. (Applause.) And somebody who was just a wonderful mentor to me when I was in the Senate and has been just a great public servant, not just for your state, but for the entire country -- Carl Levin. (Applause.) He’s always out there, especially when it comes to our men and women in uniform. We’re very proud of him. (Applause.)
And while we’re at it, we got a couple of out-of-towners -- Pat Leahy from Vermont -- there are a lot of dairy farms up there, so he had something to do with it. (Applause.) Amy Klobuchar from Minnesota. (Applause.) All that cold air is blowing from Minnesota down into -- (laughter).
Now, despite its name, the farm bill is not just about helping farmers. Secretary Vilsack calls it a jobs bill, an innovation bill, an infrastructure bill, a research bill, a conservation bill. It’s like a Swiss Army knife. (Laughter.) It’s like Mike Trout -- for those of you who know baseball. (Laughter.) It’s somebody who’s got a lot of tools. It multitasks. It’s creating more good jobs, gives more Americans a shot at opportunity. And there are two big ways in which it does so.
First, the farm bill lifts up our rural communities. Over the past five years, thanks to the hard work and know-how of America’s farmers, the best in the world, we’ve had the strongest stretch of farm exports in our history. And when I’m traveling around the world, I’m promoting American agriculture. And as a consequence, we are selling more stuff to more people than ever before. Supports about 1 million American jobs; what we grow here and that we sell is a huge boost to the entire economy, but particularly the rural economy.
Here at Michigan State, by the way, you are helping us to do even more. So I just got a tour of a facility where you’re working with local businesses to produce renewable fuels. You’re helping farmers grow crops that are healthier and more resistant to disease. Some students are even raising their own piglets on an organic farm. When I was in college, I lived in a pig sty -- (laughter) -- but I didn't work in one. So I’m impressed by that. (Laughter.) That's no joke, by the way. (Laughter and applause.) Your hygiene improves as you get older. (Laughter.)
So we’re seeing some big advances in American agriculture. And today, by the way, I’m directing my administration to launch a new “Made in Rural America” initiative to help more rural businesses expand and hire and sell more products stamped “Made in the USA” to the rest of the world -- because we’ve got great products here that need to be sold and we can do even more to sell around the world. (Applause.)
But even with all this progress, too many rural Americans are still struggling. Right now, 85 percent of counties experience what’s called “persistent poverty.” Those are in rural areas. Before I was elected President, I represented Illinois, home of a couple of your Big Ten rivals, but also a big farming state. And over the years, I’ve seen how hard it can be to be a farmer. There are a lot of big producers who are doing really well, but there are even more small farms, family farms, where folks are just scratching out a living and increasingly vulnerable to difficulties in financing and all the inputs involved -- farmers sometimes having to work off the farm, they’ve got a couple of jobs outside the farm just to get health care, just to pay the bills, trying to keep it in the family, and it’s very hard for young farmers to get started.
And in these rural communities, a lot of young people talk about how jobs are so scarce, even before the recession hit, that they feel like they’ve got to leave in order to have opportunity. They can't stay at home, they’ve got to leave.
So that's why this farm bill includes things like crop insurance, so that when a disaster like the record drought that we’re seeing across much of the West hits our farmers, they don’t lose everything they’ve worked so hard to build. This bill helps rural communities by investing in hospitals and schools, affordable housing, broadband infrastructure -- all the things that help attract more businesses and make life easier for working families.
This bill supports businesses working to develop cutting-edge biofuels -- like some of the work that's being done here at Michigan State. That has the potential to create jobs and reduce our dependence on foreign oil. It boosts conservation efforts so that our children and grandchildren will be able to enjoy places like the Mississippi River Valley and Chesapeake Bay.
It supports local food by investing in things like farmers markets and organic agriculture -- which is making my wife very happy. And when Michelle is happy, I don't know about everybody being happy, but I know I'm happy. (Laughter and applause.) And so it's giving smaller producers, local producers, folks like Ben, the opportunity to sell more of their products directly, without a bunch of processing and distributors and middlemen that make it harder for them to achieve. And it means that people are going to have healthier diets, which is, in turn, going to reduce incidents of childhood obesity and keep us healthier, which saves us all money.
It does all this while reforming our agricultural programs, so this bill helps to clamp down on loopholes that allowed people to receive benefits year after year, whether they were planting crops or not. And it saves taxpayers hard-earned dollars by making sure that we only support farmers when disaster strikes or prices drop. It's not just automatic.
So that’s the first thing this farm bill does -- it helps rural communities grow; it gives farmers some certainty; it puts in place important reforms.
The second thing this farm bill does -- that is huge -- is help make sure America’s children don’t go hungry. (Applause.) And this is where Debbie’s work was really important. One study shows that more than half of all Americans will experience poverty at some point during their adult lives. Now, for most folks that's when you're young and you're eating ramen all the time. But for a lot of families, a crisis hits, you lose your job, somebody gets sick, strains on your budget -- you have a strong work ethic, but it might take you six months, nine months, a year to find a job. And in the meantime, you’ve got families to feed.
That’s why, for more than half a century, this country has helped Americans put food on the table when they hit a rough patch, or when they’re working hard but aren’t making enough money to feed their kids. They’re not looking for a handout, these folks, they’re looking for a hand up -- (applause) -- a bridge to help get them through some tough times. (Applause.)
And we sure don't believe that children should be punished when parents are having a tough time. As a country, we’re stronger when we help hardworking Americans get back on their feet, make sure that children are getting the nutrition that they need so that they can learn what they need in order to be contributing members of our society.
That’s the idea behind what’s known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. A large majority of SNAP recipients are children, or the elderly, or Americans with disabilities. A lot of others are hardworking Americans who need just a little help feeding their families while they look for a job or they’re trying to find a better one. And in 2012, the SNAP program kept nearly 5 million people -- including more than 2 million children -- out of poverty. (Applause.) Think about that -- 5 million people.
That’s why my position has always been that any farm bill I sign must include protections for vulnerable Americans, and thanks to the good work of Debbie and others, this bill does that. (Applause.) And by giving Americans more bang for their buck at places like farmers markets, we’re making it easier for working families to eat healthy foods and we're supporting farmers like Ben who make their living growing it. So it’s creating new markets for produce farmers, and it means that people have a chance to directly buy from their farmers the kind of food that’s going to keep them healthy.
And the truth is a lot of folks go through tough times at some points in their lives. That doesn’t mean they should go hungry. Not in a country like America. So investing in the communities that grow our food, helping hardworking Americans put that food on the table -- that’s what this farm bill does, all while reducing our deficits through smart reforms.
It doesn’t include everything that I’d like to see. And I know leaders on both sides of the aisle feel the same way. But it’s a good sign that Democrats and Republicans in Congress were able to come through with this bill, break the cycle of short-sighted, crisis-driven partisan decision-making, and actually get this stuff done. (Applause.) That's a good sign.
And that’s the way you should expect Washington to work. That’s the way Washington should continue to work. Because we’ve got more work to do. We’ve got more work to do to potentially make sure that unemployment insurance is put in place for a lot of folks out there who need it. (Applause.) We’ve got more work to do to pass a minimum wage. We’ve got more work to do to do immigration reform, which will help farmers like Ben. (Applause.)
So let’s keep the momentum going here. And in the weeks ahead, while Congress is deciding what’s next, I’m going to keep doing everything I can to strengthen the middle class, build ladders of opportunity in the middle class. And I sure hope Congress will join me because I know that’s what you’re looking for out of your elected officials at every level. (Applause.)
So thank you, everybody. God bless you. I’m now going to sign this farm bill. (Applause.)
Hold on a second, I forgot to mention Marcia Fudge is here. I wasn’t sure whether she came to the event. I knew she flew in with me. She does great work -- (applause) -- out of the great state of Ohio.
(The bill is signed.) (Applause.)
END
Monday, February 3, 2014
NSF LOOKS FOR INTEGRATED COMPUTER MODELING SYSTEM
FROM: NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
An integrated computer modeling system for water resource management
Water resource management involves numerous and often distinct areas, such as hydrology, engineering, economics, public policy, chemistry, ecology and agriculture, among others. It is a multi-disciplinary field, each with its own set of challenges and, in turn, its own set of computer models.
Jonathan Goodall's mission is "to take all these models from different groups and somehow glue them together," he says.
The National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded scientist and associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Virginia, is working to design an integrated computer modeling system that will seamlessly connect all the different models, enabling everyone involved in the water resources field to see the big picture.
"We are trying to computationally design models as components within a larger modeling framework so that we can integrate them," he says. "We want to be able to look at connections across the systems. For example, if you grow corn for ethanol for fuel, there are economic, water quality and agricultural aspects. How do you look at the issues and problems holistically? How do you look at all the components of the system and their interactions? We need to have this perspective if we want to understand all the consequences that happen to water, so we can manage it properly."
In doing so, "it will make the models we use to address water resources challenges more accurate and more robust," he says. "There are a lot of current water challenges that require sophisticated computational models."
He lists, among others, the Chesapeake Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, where fertilizer runoff has created dead zones; Southern California, which faces water shortages resulting from an over allocation of the Colorado River, and depleted groundwater resources; and floods along rivers in the Midwest, which prompted difficult decisions about releasing water through levies, and flooding lands, to avoid significant downstream flooding of cities, such as New Orleans.
"Models are used by water resource engineers every day to make predictions, such as when will a river crest following a heavy rain storm, or how long until a city's water supply runs dry during a period of drought," he adds. "One of the problems with our current models is that they often consider only isolated parts of the water cycle. Our work argues that when you look at all the pieces together, you will come up with a more comprehensive picture that will result in more accurate predictions."
His work was motivated and builds off an initiative funded by the European Union called Open Modeling Interface, known as OpenMI, originally conceived to facilitate the simulation of interacting processes, particularly environmental ones, by enabling independent computer models to exchange data as they ran.
Later, it became a generic solution to the problem of data exchange among any models, not just environmental, and soon after, not just models but software components, thereby connecting any combination of models, databases and analytical and visualization tools.
"We are trying to advance the software that bridges all the models," Goodall says. "One of the ways we are trying to strengthen the software is by trying to understand which kinds of problems it can handle."
For example, one challenge with bridging models of different systems is that one system might be more dynamic than another. In water resources, water movement in the atmosphere is more dynamic than water movement in deep aquifers.
"When the models are bridged, you need to allow for the flexibility that allows for these differences, otherwise you may run into significant computationally efficiencies," Goodall says.
"Also, you can quickly get into semantics problems, where different models have different vocabularies in their internal systems," he adds. "You may need to have a variable passed between two different models, but each model might have its own semantics for naming the variable. Computers do not handle this well without very specific runs, such as unified, controlled vocabulary, or clear rules for how to translate terminology between the two models."
These semantic differences can be complex, since variables in models may have slight differences in units or dimensions that, if not properly handled, can cause major problems when linking the models together, he says.
While this work applies generally across water resource modeling challenges, Goodall and his team are applying the work specifically to the challenge of modeling water and nutrient transport within watersheds. They are using the Neuse River Basin in North Carolina as a case study, running widely used models alongside their new modeling framework system in order to test and verify whether the new system reaches the same answers as well-tested models.
"The modeling framework system will then be used to go beyond the capabilities of current models by including new disciplines into the watershed modeling process, and then eventually allowing specialized groups to advance components of the overall modeling system," he says.
Goodall is conducting his research under an NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award, which he received in 2009 as part of NSF's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The award supports junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding research, excellent education, and the integration of education and research within the context of the mission of their organization. NSF is funding his work with $408,042 over five years.
Goodall is using the educational component of the grant to plan courses, as well as a workshop for graduate students across different water-related disciplines who "will come up with a water problem that is cross-disciplinary, and then construct a model using the new modeling system that can really test our approach," he says. "We will be talking about the integration we have to do so we can have an integrated system where each person contributes his or her own component."
In 2013, Goodall volunteered as a mentor at a local middle school, where he guided students through design a city of the future and "specifically think about how that city would handle its storm water," he says. "We discussed the general problems cause by storm water," which is runoff caused by heavy rain storms, "falling on impervious surfaces such as roads, roofs and parking lots.
"Because this rain does not infiltrate into the soil, it can cause problems such as flooding or erosion of river beds," he adds. "We talked about the ways engineers handle storm water so that it does not cause these problems, as well as how the philosophy for handling storm water runoff has changed over the years."
While many urban storm water systems were designed in the past simply to remove rain water from a city as quickly as possible--for example, by using large concrete channels--the focus has changed in recent years. Many cities now employ new practices, such as using pervious surfaces for roads or lots, or capturing rainfall in ponds or rain gardens distributed across the city, allowing water to slowly infiltrate into the soil.
"Storm water is something that most people spend very little time thinking about and these students were no different," he says. "But as they began to think about the problem and the challenge of not only solving the problem, but doing it in a sustainable way, they were hooked. You could see their minds go as they tried to come up with solutions to the problem, and that was fun."
An integrated computer modeling system for water resource management
Water resource management involves numerous and often distinct areas, such as hydrology, engineering, economics, public policy, chemistry, ecology and agriculture, among others. It is a multi-disciplinary field, each with its own set of challenges and, in turn, its own set of computer models.
Jonathan Goodall's mission is "to take all these models from different groups and somehow glue them together," he says.
The National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded scientist and associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Virginia, is working to design an integrated computer modeling system that will seamlessly connect all the different models, enabling everyone involved in the water resources field to see the big picture.
"We are trying to computationally design models as components within a larger modeling framework so that we can integrate them," he says. "We want to be able to look at connections across the systems. For example, if you grow corn for ethanol for fuel, there are economic, water quality and agricultural aspects. How do you look at the issues and problems holistically? How do you look at all the components of the system and their interactions? We need to have this perspective if we want to understand all the consequences that happen to water, so we can manage it properly."
In doing so, "it will make the models we use to address water resources challenges more accurate and more robust," he says. "There are a lot of current water challenges that require sophisticated computational models."
He lists, among others, the Chesapeake Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, where fertilizer runoff has created dead zones; Southern California, which faces water shortages resulting from an over allocation of the Colorado River, and depleted groundwater resources; and floods along rivers in the Midwest, which prompted difficult decisions about releasing water through levies, and flooding lands, to avoid significant downstream flooding of cities, such as New Orleans.
"Models are used by water resource engineers every day to make predictions, such as when will a river crest following a heavy rain storm, or how long until a city's water supply runs dry during a period of drought," he adds. "One of the problems with our current models is that they often consider only isolated parts of the water cycle. Our work argues that when you look at all the pieces together, you will come up with a more comprehensive picture that will result in more accurate predictions."
His work was motivated and builds off an initiative funded by the European Union called Open Modeling Interface, known as OpenMI, originally conceived to facilitate the simulation of interacting processes, particularly environmental ones, by enabling independent computer models to exchange data as they ran.
Later, it became a generic solution to the problem of data exchange among any models, not just environmental, and soon after, not just models but software components, thereby connecting any combination of models, databases and analytical and visualization tools.
"We are trying to advance the software that bridges all the models," Goodall says. "One of the ways we are trying to strengthen the software is by trying to understand which kinds of problems it can handle."
For example, one challenge with bridging models of different systems is that one system might be more dynamic than another. In water resources, water movement in the atmosphere is more dynamic than water movement in deep aquifers.
"When the models are bridged, you need to allow for the flexibility that allows for these differences, otherwise you may run into significant computationally efficiencies," Goodall says.
"Also, you can quickly get into semantics problems, where different models have different vocabularies in their internal systems," he adds. "You may need to have a variable passed between two different models, but each model might have its own semantics for naming the variable. Computers do not handle this well without very specific runs, such as unified, controlled vocabulary, or clear rules for how to translate terminology between the two models."
These semantic differences can be complex, since variables in models may have slight differences in units or dimensions that, if not properly handled, can cause major problems when linking the models together, he says.
While this work applies generally across water resource modeling challenges, Goodall and his team are applying the work specifically to the challenge of modeling water and nutrient transport within watersheds. They are using the Neuse River Basin in North Carolina as a case study, running widely used models alongside their new modeling framework system in order to test and verify whether the new system reaches the same answers as well-tested models.
"The modeling framework system will then be used to go beyond the capabilities of current models by including new disciplines into the watershed modeling process, and then eventually allowing specialized groups to advance components of the overall modeling system," he says.
Goodall is conducting his research under an NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award, which he received in 2009 as part of NSF's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The award supports junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding research, excellent education, and the integration of education and research within the context of the mission of their organization. NSF is funding his work with $408,042 over five years.
Goodall is using the educational component of the grant to plan courses, as well as a workshop for graduate students across different water-related disciplines who "will come up with a water problem that is cross-disciplinary, and then construct a model using the new modeling system that can really test our approach," he says. "We will be talking about the integration we have to do so we can have an integrated system where each person contributes his or her own component."
In 2013, Goodall volunteered as a mentor at a local middle school, where he guided students through design a city of the future and "specifically think about how that city would handle its storm water," he says. "We discussed the general problems cause by storm water," which is runoff caused by heavy rain storms, "falling on impervious surfaces such as roads, roofs and parking lots.
"Because this rain does not infiltrate into the soil, it can cause problems such as flooding or erosion of river beds," he adds. "We talked about the ways engineers handle storm water so that it does not cause these problems, as well as how the philosophy for handling storm water runoff has changed over the years."
While many urban storm water systems were designed in the past simply to remove rain water from a city as quickly as possible--for example, by using large concrete channels--the focus has changed in recent years. Many cities now employ new practices, such as using pervious surfaces for roads or lots, or capturing rainfall in ponds or rain gardens distributed across the city, allowing water to slowly infiltrate into the soil.
"Storm water is something that most people spend very little time thinking about and these students were no different," he says. "But as they began to think about the problem and the challenge of not only solving the problem, but doing it in a sustainable way, they were hooked. You could see their minds go as they tried to come up with solutions to the problem, and that was fun."
Friday, January 3, 2014
USDA SAYS CHINA IS IMPORTANT PART OF U.S. AGRICULTURAL EXPORT GROWTH
 |
| This is the top “Editors’ Pick” among the Charts of Note – a series provided online daily by the Economic Research Service. ERS editors selected the ten best from over 230 graphs and maps posted in 2013. Charts are provided daily on the web–and via email to those who subscribe to the daily series. |
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
China has been an important source of recent growth in U.S. agricultural exports, and there has been concern about the implications of recent increases in China’s domestic farm support. While it is often presumed that subsidies and price supports give Chinese farmers an advantage, these policies actually may improve prospects for U.S. agricultural exports by raising costs and prices of Chinese commodities above international levels. As a World Trade Organization (WTO) member, China agreed to relatively low tariffs and eliminated most barriers to imports apart from tariff rate quotas for several types of cereal grains, cotton, and sugar. Consequently, as China raises domestic price supports above international prices, the country tends to attract more imports. As a result, China today is a net importer of the commodities that are the main targets of its domestic support programs—grains, oil-seeds and cotton.
Friday, December 6, 2013
U.S. OFFICIALS REMARKS ON FOOD SECURITY
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Business Roundtable on Food Security with Private Sector Representatives of the Southern African Development Community (SADC)
Remarks
Jonathan Shrier
Acting Special Representative, Office of Global Food Security
Johannesburg, South Africa
December 4, 2013
The U.S. government currently partners with South Africa as a “strategic partner” in Feed the Future, the U.S. global hunger and food security initiative. As our whole-of-government initiative, Feed the Future works hand-in-hand with 19 partner countries to develop their agriculture sectors and break the vicious cycle of poverty and hunger. Our goal is to reduce the prevalence of poverty and stunted children by 20 percent in the specific areas where we work, which will help families lift themselves out of poverty, purchase nutritious food, and have access to education and health care.
An overarching objective of our strategic partnership with South Africa is for the United States to support a viable South-South, demand-driven approach to development cooperation. We collaborate with three non-traditional donors – Brazil, India, as well as South Africa – to build upon our deep historical ties, and to leverage the expertise, resources, and leadership of rising middle-income countries for the benefit of Feed the Future partner countries. We seek to share South Africa’s innovative business models and advanced technical expertise across the region. We seek to support SADC’s important goal of transferring South Africa’s agricultural success to other countries, thereby reducing hunger and poverty across the region.
To meet these goals, we seek to deepen our partnerships across the government, civil society, academia, and the private sector in South Africa and beyond. We must increase responsible agricultural investment and scale-up our collective development impact in Southern Africa.
South Africa already plays an indispensable role in the achievement of regional -- and, in turn, global -- food security. South Africa is the largest economy on the continent and the engine of economic growth in Southern Africa, with one of the top ten stock exchanges in the world and well-developed physical telecommunications and energy infrastructures. South African firms conducted about 70% of intra-regional investment flows, and South Africa accounted for 71.5% of the region’s GDP in 2009. South Africa is also the largest food exporter within the region. Investment from South Africa’s private sector to neighboring countries is the key to economic growth to the region.
South Africa has achieved some of the highest crop yields in the world because of its innovative, high-performing businesses in the agricultural sector, which have adopted first-generation biotechnologies and effective plant breeding capabilities. For example, the average maize yield in South Africa is about 3,000 kilograms per hectare. This high yield compares to a regional maize yield level of around 1,500 kilograms per hectare. South African firms also boast cutting edge technology in the use of advanced food processing and fortification.
South Africa has also demonstrated a strong commitment in recent years to the development of key trade corridors in the region. As President Zuma has repeatedly stated, South Africa is committed to championing the North-South Corridor and to mobilize resources for the implementation of projects. USAID supports corridor efforts by working with private sector groups, such as the NEPAD Business Foundation, to help small-holder farmers access markets. We also work with the Southern African Trade Hub to improve trade facilitation and cross border management, specifically by focusing on National Single Windows, Coordinated Border Management, and Customs Connectivity. The main objective is to decrease the time and cost of transporting agricultural commodities and inputs across borders. I am pleased to report that we are seeing some significant results, such as improvements in crossing times for exports and imports as high as 60% at Mwanza (between Malawi and Mozambique) and 40% for Songwe (between Malawi and Tanzania) in this past year alone.
Now is a critical time for us to deepen our partnership in food and nutrition security. Southern Africa, as a region, continues to be severely affected by chronic vulnerability and continuous food and nutrition insecurity. With nearly 45% of the population living below the poverty line of $1.25 per day, chronic food shortages exist at both the national and household level throughout the region. Although 70% of the region’s population depends on agriculture for food, income, and employment, the productivity of most rural smallholders remains very low.
To respond to these challenges, the U.S. government’s programs across Southern Africa are designed to advance food security by improving agricultural productivity and market access for agricultural products and inputs, as well as by reducing trade barriers along major transport corridors. In Southern Africa, Feed the Future partners with three countries -- Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique. In Zambia, we support smallholder out-grower schemes, which help link more small-scale farmers to buyers and processors and other key private sector partners. Meanwhile, in Malawi, we work with the government to advance policy priorities that can improve agricultural inputs, agricultural trade, institutional architecture, and nutrition. Our programs in Mozambique focus on catalyzing international and local agribusinesses investments in agriculture, not only through Feed the Future, but also through the G8 New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition, which is a commitment by G8 members, African countries, and private sector partners to reduce poverty through inclusive agricultural growth.
Sharing agricultural technologies currently practiced in South Africa, and relying on South Africa’s world-class educational institutions to train agriculturalists from neighboring countries, can further improve the lives of millions of people across southern Africa. Our Strategic Partnership with South Africa represents an important opportunity to bring together the private sector, South African government, and Feed the Future programs to unlock the potential of Africa’s agricultural sector. For precisely this reason, the United States actively works with South African companies and academic institutions to disseminate key technologies and promote agricultural training.
The United States is committed to supporting South African private investment and sustainable, equitable growth in agriculture across the region. Strategic Partnership Grants have already helped to create new market linkages, connecting farmers in the region to rewarding markets elsewhere in Africa and globally. These grants have also helped to: increase food storage capacity; transfer cutting-edge technology (like drought tolerant seeds, sophisticated soil testing and analysis); and disseminate timely crop extension and market information via mobile technologies. But we can always do more, and we can always do better -- together.
Together, we can increase market access, particularly for small-holder farmers. Together, we can support finance for improving infrastructure and trade, including the development of new financial products, services, and insurance products. Together, we can work from farms to markets to tables to improve incomes and nutrition. Not only is this the smart thing to do; it is also the right thing to do.
We can -- and we will -- make a significant difference in the lives of millions of people by reducing hunger and poverty in Southern Africa.
Business Roundtable on Food Security with Private Sector Representatives of the Southern African Development Community (SADC)
Remarks
Jonathan Shrier
Acting Special Representative, Office of Global Food Security
Johannesburg, South Africa
December 4, 2013
The U.S. government currently partners with South Africa as a “strategic partner” in Feed the Future, the U.S. global hunger and food security initiative. As our whole-of-government initiative, Feed the Future works hand-in-hand with 19 partner countries to develop their agriculture sectors and break the vicious cycle of poverty and hunger. Our goal is to reduce the prevalence of poverty and stunted children by 20 percent in the specific areas where we work, which will help families lift themselves out of poverty, purchase nutritious food, and have access to education and health care.
An overarching objective of our strategic partnership with South Africa is for the United States to support a viable South-South, demand-driven approach to development cooperation. We collaborate with three non-traditional donors – Brazil, India, as well as South Africa – to build upon our deep historical ties, and to leverage the expertise, resources, and leadership of rising middle-income countries for the benefit of Feed the Future partner countries. We seek to share South Africa’s innovative business models and advanced technical expertise across the region. We seek to support SADC’s important goal of transferring South Africa’s agricultural success to other countries, thereby reducing hunger and poverty across the region.
To meet these goals, we seek to deepen our partnerships across the government, civil society, academia, and the private sector in South Africa and beyond. We must increase responsible agricultural investment and scale-up our collective development impact in Southern Africa.
South Africa already plays an indispensable role in the achievement of regional -- and, in turn, global -- food security. South Africa is the largest economy on the continent and the engine of economic growth in Southern Africa, with one of the top ten stock exchanges in the world and well-developed physical telecommunications and energy infrastructures. South African firms conducted about 70% of intra-regional investment flows, and South Africa accounted for 71.5% of the region’s GDP in 2009. South Africa is also the largest food exporter within the region. Investment from South Africa’s private sector to neighboring countries is the key to economic growth to the region.
South Africa has achieved some of the highest crop yields in the world because of its innovative, high-performing businesses in the agricultural sector, which have adopted first-generation biotechnologies and effective plant breeding capabilities. For example, the average maize yield in South Africa is about 3,000 kilograms per hectare. This high yield compares to a regional maize yield level of around 1,500 kilograms per hectare. South African firms also boast cutting edge technology in the use of advanced food processing and fortification.
South Africa has also demonstrated a strong commitment in recent years to the development of key trade corridors in the region. As President Zuma has repeatedly stated, South Africa is committed to championing the North-South Corridor and to mobilize resources for the implementation of projects. USAID supports corridor efforts by working with private sector groups, such as the NEPAD Business Foundation, to help small-holder farmers access markets. We also work with the Southern African Trade Hub to improve trade facilitation and cross border management, specifically by focusing on National Single Windows, Coordinated Border Management, and Customs Connectivity. The main objective is to decrease the time and cost of transporting agricultural commodities and inputs across borders. I am pleased to report that we are seeing some significant results, such as improvements in crossing times for exports and imports as high as 60% at Mwanza (between Malawi and Mozambique) and 40% for Songwe (between Malawi and Tanzania) in this past year alone.
Now is a critical time for us to deepen our partnership in food and nutrition security. Southern Africa, as a region, continues to be severely affected by chronic vulnerability and continuous food and nutrition insecurity. With nearly 45% of the population living below the poverty line of $1.25 per day, chronic food shortages exist at both the national and household level throughout the region. Although 70% of the region’s population depends on agriculture for food, income, and employment, the productivity of most rural smallholders remains very low.
To respond to these challenges, the U.S. government’s programs across Southern Africa are designed to advance food security by improving agricultural productivity and market access for agricultural products and inputs, as well as by reducing trade barriers along major transport corridors. In Southern Africa, Feed the Future partners with three countries -- Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique. In Zambia, we support smallholder out-grower schemes, which help link more small-scale farmers to buyers and processors and other key private sector partners. Meanwhile, in Malawi, we work with the government to advance policy priorities that can improve agricultural inputs, agricultural trade, institutional architecture, and nutrition. Our programs in Mozambique focus on catalyzing international and local agribusinesses investments in agriculture, not only through Feed the Future, but also through the G8 New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition, which is a commitment by G8 members, African countries, and private sector partners to reduce poverty through inclusive agricultural growth.
Sharing agricultural technologies currently practiced in South Africa, and relying on South Africa’s world-class educational institutions to train agriculturalists from neighboring countries, can further improve the lives of millions of people across southern Africa. Our Strategic Partnership with South Africa represents an important opportunity to bring together the private sector, South African government, and Feed the Future programs to unlock the potential of Africa’s agricultural sector. For precisely this reason, the United States actively works with South African companies and academic institutions to disseminate key technologies and promote agricultural training.
The United States is committed to supporting South African private investment and sustainable, equitable growth in agriculture across the region. Strategic Partnership Grants have already helped to create new market linkages, connecting farmers in the region to rewarding markets elsewhere in Africa and globally. These grants have also helped to: increase food storage capacity; transfer cutting-edge technology (like drought tolerant seeds, sophisticated soil testing and analysis); and disseminate timely crop extension and market information via mobile technologies. But we can always do more, and we can always do better -- together.
Together, we can increase market access, particularly for small-holder farmers. Together, we can support finance for improving infrastructure and trade, including the development of new financial products, services, and insurance products. Together, we can work from farms to markets to tables to improve incomes and nutrition. Not only is this the smart thing to do; it is also the right thing to do.
We can -- and we will -- make a significant difference in the lives of millions of people by reducing hunger and poverty in Southern Africa.
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
DOL HAS LABOR CONCERNS REGARDING DOMINICAN SUGAR SECTOR
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
US Labor Department issues report on labor concerns in Dominican sugar sector, announces $10 million project in agriculture
WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez today released a report regarding labor concerns in the Dominican sugar sector in response to a public submission filed under the Labor Chapter of the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR). The department also announced a $10 million project to reduce child labor and to improve labor rights and working conditions in the Dominican agriculture sector.
Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez stated, "Today we are releasing a report that highlights labor concerns in the Dominican sugar sector and shortcomings in the Dominican government's ability to identify and address them. The report recommends a way forward and notes that we stand ready to help. Working together with the Dominican government, we look forward to making a real difference in these workers' lives."
The report is a response to a submission by Father Christopher Hartley, which alleged that the government of the Dominican Republic failed "to enforce labor laws, as required under Chapter 16 of the CAFTA-DR, as these relate to the Dominican sugar industry."
The department conducted a detailed review of all information obtained from the government of the Dominican Republic, the submitter, workers, industry and other stakeholders. The report finds evidence of apparent and potential violations of labor law in the Dominican sugar sector, concerning: (1) acceptable conditions of work with respect to minimum wages, hours of work, and occupational safety and health, such as payments below the minimum wage, 12-hour work days, seven-day work weeks, lack of potable water, and the absence of safety equipment; (2) a minimum age for the employment of children and the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labor; and (3) a prohibition on the use of any form of forced or compulsory labor.
The report also discusses the department's concerns with respect to freedom of association and collective bargaining. Additionally, it highlights significant procedural and methodological shortcomings in the labor inspection process that undermine the government's capacity to identify labor violations. The report offers 11 recommendations to the government of the Dominican Republic to address the report's findings and improve enforcement of Dominican labor laws in the sugar sector. The Department of Labor will review the status of implementation of the recommendations six months and then 12 months after publication.
The Department of Labor is committed to engaging with the government of the Dominican Republic to address the concerns identified in the report and to assisting the government with implementing the report's recommendations. This commitment is evidenced by the $10 million, four-year project that the Department of Labor announced today to reduce child labor and improve labor rights and working conditions n the Dominican agriculture sector. This project builds on many years of Department of Labor's technical assistance to the Dominican Republic, including $16 million in funding since 1998 to eliminate child labor.
US Labor Department issues report on labor concerns in Dominican sugar sector, announces $10 million project in agriculture
WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez today released a report regarding labor concerns in the Dominican sugar sector in response to a public submission filed under the Labor Chapter of the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR). The department also announced a $10 million project to reduce child labor and to improve labor rights and working conditions in the Dominican agriculture sector.
Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez stated, "Today we are releasing a report that highlights labor concerns in the Dominican sugar sector and shortcomings in the Dominican government's ability to identify and address them. The report recommends a way forward and notes that we stand ready to help. Working together with the Dominican government, we look forward to making a real difference in these workers' lives."
The report is a response to a submission by Father Christopher Hartley, which alleged that the government of the Dominican Republic failed "to enforce labor laws, as required under Chapter 16 of the CAFTA-DR, as these relate to the Dominican sugar industry."
The department conducted a detailed review of all information obtained from the government of the Dominican Republic, the submitter, workers, industry and other stakeholders. The report finds evidence of apparent and potential violations of labor law in the Dominican sugar sector, concerning: (1) acceptable conditions of work with respect to minimum wages, hours of work, and occupational safety and health, such as payments below the minimum wage, 12-hour work days, seven-day work weeks, lack of potable water, and the absence of safety equipment; (2) a minimum age for the employment of children and the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labor; and (3) a prohibition on the use of any form of forced or compulsory labor.
The report also discusses the department's concerns with respect to freedom of association and collective bargaining. Additionally, it highlights significant procedural and methodological shortcomings in the labor inspection process that undermine the government's capacity to identify labor violations. The report offers 11 recommendations to the government of the Dominican Republic to address the report's findings and improve enforcement of Dominican labor laws in the sugar sector. The Department of Labor will review the status of implementation of the recommendations six months and then 12 months after publication.
The Department of Labor is committed to engaging with the government of the Dominican Republic to address the concerns identified in the report and to assisting the government with implementing the report's recommendations. This commitment is evidenced by the $10 million, four-year project that the Department of Labor announced today to reduce child labor and improve labor rights and working conditions n the Dominican agriculture sector. This project builds on many years of Department of Labor's technical assistance to the Dominican Republic, including $16 million in funding since 1998 to eliminate child labor.
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