Water for Food, Paths to solutions

05/05/2011 Added

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[00:00:00.063]MUSIC
[00:00:18.041]We are sitting atop one of the major
[00:00:20.042]aquifer resources on the planet.
[00:00:22.073]And you're also gonna have to think about feeding
[00:00:24.035]the world, not just the U.S.
[00:00:25.092]Perhaps it's the other inconvenient truth that it's not
[00:00:29.076]only a challenge of producing enough food, but
[00:00:33.016]it's to produce enough food in a way that also
[00:00:35.073]protects environmental quality and
[00:00:38.043]natural ecosystems.
[00:00:40.010]MUSIC
[00:00:55.072]Narrator: A precious but shrinking resource.
[00:00:58.039]An expanding population.
[00:01:01.002]A changing climate.
[00:01:02.096]The global challenge in the 21st century
[00:01:06.023]is how to grow more with less.
[00:01:09.053]Sally Mackenzie: So now you're going to feed the
[00:01:10.072]world with new challenges and you're gonna feed
[00:01:12.017]the world under conditions where we need
[00:01:14.074]more than we ever needed before.
[00:01:16.070]Narrator: The paths to solutions are being paved
[00:01:19.011]by the Robert B. Daugherty Water for Food Institute
[00:01:22.028]at the University of Nebraska.
[00:01:23.098]The institute was established in 2010 thanks to a
[00:01:28.015]generous $50-million gift from the Robert B. Daugherty Charitable Foundation
[00:01:33.022]J.B. Milliken: This is a place where Nebraska and the University of Nebraska
[00:01:38.093]and the Daugherty Foundation can make an enormous difference.
[00:01:43.014]Narrator: Nebraska is an idea laboratory for research and
[00:01:46.073]education on the challenges of water for food. The state
[00:01:50.071]has the most irrigated acres of farmland in the country
[00:01:54.021]and a climate that varies from sub-humid to semi-arid.
[00:01:58.068]John Gates: We've got all the resources in place that are needed
[00:02:01.075]for world-class research and teaching on water resources.
[00:02:06.015]Narrator: From water and climate research, to agriculture and public policy,
[00:02:10.056]the Water for Food Institute helps the world prepare for
[00:02:14.043]an unknown future.
[00:02:15.088]Music
[00:02:21.070]Nebraska sits atop a vast underground water reservoir.
[00:02:25.057]The Ogalalla Aquifer gives life to the fields above it.
[00:02:29.021]A Nebraska scientist studies groundwater in Nebraska
[00:02:32.085]and all over the world, using environmental traces that
[00:02:36.095]tell us how groundwater moves around.
[00:02:39.086]John Gates: An understanding of the way groundwater flows is an
[00:02:44.029]essential underpinning of sustainable agriculture that's
[00:02:48.057]dependent on irrigation.
[00:02:50.053]Narrator: Using sophisticated tools in the field, Suat Irmak
[00:02:53.077]measures evapotranspiration, water loss from plants and soil.
[00:02:58.077]Suat Irmak: Water is the life support of irrigated and dryland agriculture.
[00:03:03.061]So it is important for us to know what is the evapotranspiration
[00:03:08.015]rate for different vegetation surfaces to make better informed
[00:03:12.039]decisions in terms of water resources planning and
[00:03:16.086]management and allocations.
[00:03:18.066]Narrator: Tomorrow's problems are solved by today's innovation.
[00:03:22.033]Engineers and computer scientists work on wireless
[00:03:26.000]underground sensor networks that tell irrigation systems
[00:03:29.057]when and where to water and how much.
[00:03:32.097]Mehmet Can Vuran: Our goal eventually is to make the soil t
[00:03:36.092]ell us what to do instead of having to guess.
[00:03:39.008]Narrator: The Water Optimizer is a tool that helps growers
[00:03:42.098]determine the most efficient and profitable way to use
[00:03:46.025]a limited allocation of water.
[00:03:48.029]Derrel Martin: We can maybe help growers get to the right
[00:03:50.079]decision faster and maybe provide them
[00:03:53.083]with a less costly alternative to get there.
[00:03:57.057]Music
[00:04:04.091]Narrator: Predicting the future sometimes means looking
[00:04:07.001]to the past. That's the job of University of Nebraska
[00:04:10.008]paleoecologist Shari Fritz.
[00:04:12.075]Core samples from lake sediments produce a geologic
[00:04:15.092]record that tells the story of so-called mega-droughts,
[00:04:19.072]that were longer and more severe than the Dust Bowl.
[00:04:23.032]Shari Fritz: We can study the past to understand how
[00:04:26.014]systems respond to rapid climate change, how resillient
[00:04:30.010]is the hydrologic system. So by studying the past we hope we
[00:04:34.007]have a more complete understanding of how the system
[00:04:37.027]works and how resilient it is.
[00:04:39.027]Narrator: Nebraska is home to the High Plains Regional
[00:04:43.004]Climate Center, one of six federally funded centers in the
[00:04:46.025]nation. The center collects climate and weather data,
[00:04:50.002]monitors soil and drought, and predicts the impact of
[00:04:54.002]climate change on crop production.
[00:04:56.046]Martha Shulski: Climate data and information is
[00:04:58.036]very, very important and climate monitoring, understanding
[00:05:00.083]when you might be going into a drought, for example.
[00:05:04.060]Narrator: The National Drought Mitigation Center helps
[00:05:07.060]governments and organizations develop strategies.
[00:05:11.011]Don Wilhite: We are by far the leading university in the world,
[00:05:16.014]the leading institution in terms of things like preparedness,
[00:05:20.075]drough monitoring, mitigation, policy formation. So the
[00:05:25.019]world really looks to the University of Nebraska and the
[00:05:27.039]National Drought Mitigation Center to provide that leadership,
[00:05:30.059]to provide that expertise.
[00:05:32.023]Music
[00:05:36.076]Narrator: To cope with climate change and limited resources,
[00:05:39.050]Nebraska scientists develop drought resistant crops that
[00:05:43.017]move from the lab to the field.
[00:05:45.084]Sally Mackenzie: We've built the capability to engineer crops
[00:05:49.068]for nutrition, for bio-energy traits, for traits that help them to
[00:05:55.005]grow against adverse conditions, drought tolerance.
[00:05:57.085]Ed Cahoon: We think that the basic discoveries that we make
[00:06:00.046]can then be applied to crop plants and tested in the field and
[00:06:03.093]then have an impact both in the United States but also for
[00:06:07.076]people in developing countries where drought is an
[00:06:10.083]on-going problem.
[00:06:12.088]Narrator: University of Nebraska agronomist Ken Cassman
[00:06:15.094]and his colleagues are developing a way to measure the
[00:06:19.001]yield gap, the difference between the average yield per
[00:06:22.021]acre and the potential crop yield.
[00:06:24.068]Ken Cassman: We could create a global atlas of food
[00:06:28.025]production potential that has never been produced before.
[00:06:31.042]Narrator: The atlas would be used by policy makers and
[00:06:33.096]researchers to identify under-performing areas and figure
[00:06:38.003]out how to increase yield, and still protect precious
[00:06:41.006]natural resources.
[00:06:42.097]Music
[00:06:48.037]As the clamor for water builds, the University of Nebraska
[00:06:51.081]navigates a sea of legal and policy issues that affect supply.
[00:06:56.051]Anthony Shultz: What we've done is we've created rules and
[00:06:59.011]institutions that purport to work in all of those different areas.
[00:07:03.072]So by studying Nebraska you can get lessons
[00:07:07.032]for a variety of different folks operating under a variety
[00:07:10.043]of different conditions.
[00:07:11.079]Narrator: The next generation of water scientists is
[00:07:14.063]trained at Nebraska.
[00:07:16.040]Graduate students study resilience and adaptive management
[00:07:20.010]strategies for stressed watersheds in the United States
[00:07:23.006]and Europe.
[00:07:24.044]Craig Allen: Our students should come out with an explicit
[00:07:27.018]understanding of the inter-disciplinary nature of water and
[00:07:31.008]other resource challenges for the future and with training in
[00:07:35.018]how to address some of those problems.
[00:07:37.022]Narrator: Nebraska leads the way for other countries
[00:07:40.019]struggling with competing needs for water.
[00:07:43.002]Jim Goeke: The elements of how we can use water
[00:07:44.076]sustainably and as efficiently as possible, is a message that
[00:07:48.080]can be transferred anywhere in the world.
[00:07:50.063]John Gates: The University of Nebraska is a perfect place for
[00:07:54.067]something like the International Water for Food Institute.

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Tags:
agriculture
food production
research
robert b. daugherty water for food institute
university of nebraska
water for food

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Water for Food, Paths to solutions

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