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| Science & Technology |
| Selling the Desert's Water-Conservation Lessons |
| 2015-05-29 |
| h/t Gates of Vienna The Israeli farmers who pioneered the revolutionary technology known as drip irrigation weren't trying to solve one of the world's most urgent problems. They were just trying to survive. They lived in the desert, and they didn't have enough water to grow their crops. One day, they met an engineer named Simcha Blass who told them about his amazing new invention. In its simplest form, it was little more than a hose with holes in it. But behind each hole was a sophisticated little device called a dripper, a sort of button-like valve that emitted just the right amount of water. Snaked along a row of crops so that the holes were positioned directly above the roots, the hose could direct each precious drop of water directly to the plants, growing a bigger bounty while using a fraction of the water. The farmers decided to start manufacturing these hoses, and over time, they improved upon the technology, perfecting the drippers that regulated the flow of water, and connecting the pipelines to computers that could determine exactly how much water each plant needed and when. ...The company, Netafim, was founded in 1965 on a kibbutz in the Negev Desert in the south of Israel, near Beersheva, and is today based in Tel Aviv. Although the company won't share its profit records, there's no question that Netafim has done very well as the global demand for water has grown increasingly intense. In the last 35 years, Netafim's revenues have climbed from $60 million to more than $750 million, and its workforce has grown from a handful of kibbutzniks to more than 4,000 people on every continent but Antarctica. With a 30 percent market share, it's the leading drip-irrigation company in the world. There are makers, takers, and fakers. And, I guess, we know who's who. |
| Posted by:g(r)omgoru |
| #1 there's no Joooo-killing interest in using this tech, ergo, Paleos have water shortages |
| Posted by: Frank G 2015-05-29 21:36 |