38 - Irrigation expansion’s varying impacts on nutrition
Daugherty Water for Food Podcast
Episode 38 - Irrigation expansion’s varying impacts on nutrition Irrigation expansion can provide the water necessary to increase food production for our growing world. It can also be a means for moving farmers from simply producing enough food for their families to generating more income through domestic markets or export of additional production. However, increasing use of irrigation can have varying impacts on the nutrition of the local communities and it’s important to consider these costs and benefits when striving to reduce poverty, end hunger and protect our water resources....
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37 - Opportunities of Irrigation and Mechanization
Daugherty Water for Food Podcast
ILIMS Deputy Director Jude Cobbing - Opportunities of Irrigation and Mechanization In November 2023, the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute announced a new USAID Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Irrigation and Mechanization Systems (ILIMS). ILIMS enhances global food security by generating research-based solutions to support the growth of vibrant irrigation and mechanization markets; develops strong institutions and local capacity for their sustainability; and fosters opportunities for equitable access for smallholder farmers. In this episode, DWFI Communications Specialist Arianna...
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36 - Impacts of Drought on Human Health
Daugherty Water for Food Podcast
Drought is a prolonged dry period that can occur anywhere in the world and results in a water shortage. Unlike some other disasters, drought has a slow onset and a prolonged impact on health, agriculture, economies, energy and the environment. An estimated 55 million people globally are affected by droughts every year and as many as 700 million people are at-risk of being displaced as a result of drought by 2030. As of June 4, 2024, more than 10 percent of the U.S. is experiencing a drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. In fact, drought is one of the costliest and deadliest...
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35 - Nebraska’s Agtech Innovation Ecosystem
Daugherty Water for Food Podcast
Farmers are the original agtech innovators. As the population grows, and water resources become scarcer, there is a need for continued innovation in agricultural technologies, and a ready network to foster and accelerate them. The 2024 Nebraska Agtech Innovation Ecosystem Map, jointly published by and , outlines the ecosystem for entrepreneurs and all actors to connect with resources in the agtech community. In this podcast episode, DWFI Communications Specialist Arianna Elnes talks to program manager for The Combine, Josh DeMers and research program manager Water for Food,...
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34 - Impacts of climate change in the US
Daugherty Water for Food Podcast
The Fifth National Climate Assessment is federally mandated by Congress and released every four years to serve as the foremost review of research on the current and future impacts of climate change in the United States. In this episode of the Water for Food Podcast, DWFI Director of Communications and Public Relations Frances Hayes discusses key findings of the report with three of its co-authors. DWFI Faculty Fellows Andrea Basche and Tonya Haigh co-authored the Northern Great Plains chapter, which includes Nebraska. DWFI Director of Water, Climate and Health Jesse Bell, who leads...
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33 - Aakanksha Melkani, DWFI
Daugherty Water for Food Podcast
a postdoctoral research associate at the researches the economic implications of drought in the United States, specifically on agricultural sectors. In this edition of the Water for Food Podcast, we are sharing an episode of , a podcast produced by the Middle Republican Natural Resources District in Nebraska. Host of the show, Heather Dizmang, discusses Aakansha’s findings so far, as well as her time in Africa studying maize production.
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32 - The Melting Cryosphere and Food & Water Security
Daugherty Water for Food Podcast
The Melting Cryosphere and Food & Water Security, with Randall Ritzema, Tika Gurung, and Nick Brozović A 2023 report called (HI-WISE), published by the , was an urgent call for how disappearing snow and ice in the Hindu Kush Himalayas will impact water resources for nearly two billion people. But the cryosphere exists elsewhere, too, as part of the globe’s hydrological system. Populations and ecosystems of The Andes, California and Nebraska, for example, all rely on a healthy cryosphere for water. With a changing climate, what are the implications to food and water security?...
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31 - Agriculture in Space with Yufeng Ge, Santosh Pitla and David Jones
Daugherty Water for Food Podcast
Yufeng Ge, Santosh Pitla and David Jones have already conducted research in the areas of ag-relevant sensors for more efficient application of fertilizer and water, and the development of an autonomous planter capable of seeding a 5-acre field all on its own. But now they’ve set their sights quite a bit higher — growing food in space. The three biological systems engineering faculty at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, along with others on their research team, were from Nebraska’s Office of Research and Economic Development to find ways to sustainably grow food in space. In...
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30 - Marjan Kalmakhanova and Dan Snow
Daugherty Water for Food Podcast
Since 2013, UNL Water Sciences Lab Director Dan Snow and other researchers in the University of Nebraska system (NU) have collaborated with faculty and students in Central Asian institutes to improve water quality research across the globe. The purpose of this effort is to share NU’s knowledge and expertise in water quality research with a region that has limited resources and important water quality issues to address. In this episode, guest host Ann Briggs, public relations and engagement coordinator at the Nebraska Water Center, chats with Dan during one of his visits to...
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29 - Nicole Lefore, DWFI
Daugherty Water for Food Podcast
DWFI was recently selected to lead USAID's Feed the Future Lab for Irrigation and Mechanization Systems (ILIMS). In this episode of the Water for Food Podcast, Nicole Lefore, the director of the new lab and the associate director of sustainable agriculture water management at DWFI, shares the purpose of USAID's overall Feed the Future initiative; how ILIMS will support smallholder farmers in low- and middle-income countries and how the lab can ultimately reduce global hunger, poverty and undernutrition and help increase food and water security.
info_outlineRoric Paulman is a producer and owner of Paulman Farms, located just south of Sutherland, Nebraska and in the heart of the Ogallala Aquifer, comprised of both irrigated and rain fed farmland. The farm was established and harvested its first crop in 1985 and uses the latest on-farm technology to grow more than a dozen crops. It is one of two “smart farms” in Nebraska that DWFI and the Nebraska Water Center helped the University of Nebraska–Lincoln establish to test the real-world ability of innovations to increase yields and improve sustainability outside of a controlled environment. It is equipped with high-speed wireless internet for data access, cutting-edge sensors and precision application equipment that helps to improve water, nitrogen and other input efficiencies, as well as soil health, carbon sequestration and technology development.
Roric is an avid user of new technologies and practices he believes will help make his operation more sustainable while still increasing profits. He is also a member of the DWFI international advisory board and Board Chair of the Nebraska Water Balance Alliance, an organization that catalyzes best practices among Nebraska farmers by emphasizing practical, locally focused watershed management practices. Roric is active on state, regional, and national boards for many of the crops he grows and is focused on helping to promote farmer understanding of best practices in water use efficiency.
In this episode of our special series focused on water and agriculture in Nebraska, Frances Hayes, DWFI director of communications and public relations, chats with Roric about why technology’s intersection with agriculture is so top of mind and how he sees growers working together to protect groundwater and surface water.