When you hear “jujube,” you might first think of the chewy, retro gumdrop candy with its brilliant red, yellow and green colors. But “jujube” started as English for sidr, the tree considered holy in Islam.

In the Koran it’s written that on the Day of Judgment the faithful, will dwell in Paradise “Among thorn-less sidr trees and clustered plantains, and spreading shade, and water gushing, and plentiful fruit.”

Perhaps because of this, sidr leaves are said to have magical, mystical properties.

We’ve noted the multiple medicinal qualities of the sidr fruit and mentioned the potential of the tree to hold off desertification.

Every year, one evening at mid-Ramadan, the tree shakes. The names on the leaves that fall are of those who will die in the coming year.

The sidr tree in black magic

Then there’s the intriguing use of sidr leaves as protection from black magic and the evil eye. We described what the evil eye is. Basically, it’s ill-wishing someone from feelings of envy, rivalry, and hatred.

Jealousy exists in the human heart; it can’t be shrugged off. Mature people recognize and try to overcome it; if we can’t exactly turn the other cheek, at least we hopefully move on to a healthier way of coping than secretly ill-wishing someone.

In Islamic culture, and in cultures who have lived in close quarters with Moslems, the evil eye is feared as one would fear a physical threat. In speaking of another’s child or property, it’s polite to raise one’s hand, palm outward, and say “hamsah” several times – to show there’s nothing to fear – all one’s intentions are good.

Women are especially susceptible to the suggestion of an evil eye. A pretty girl. A married woman wanting to conceive. A protective mother.

Men may fear that their success in business may cause envy, or that their virility will be impaired by witchcraft. Women are especially susceptible to the suggestion of an evil eye. A pretty girl. A married woman wanting to conceive. A protective mother.

To ward off the evil eye, a person may wear an amulet bracelet.

Or hang a five-fingered “hamsah” on the office or home wall. See our post on the evil eye and how to avoid it.

But for a person needing stronger protection, there’s another, more intimate way to deal with witchcraft and the evil eye: bathing with sidr-infused water. This is also said to expel demons.

On the positive side, the sidr tree may host the spirit of a saint. Far from pagan, pre-Islamic tree worship, the tree itself isn’t a holy object; rather, the holiness of a saint whose custom it was to sit in its shade has been transferred to the tree. For this reason, it’s considered lucky to sit or sleep under a sidr tree.

There’s a Moslem legend about a sidr tree (also known in English as a lote tree) that grows in Paradise. On its leaves are etched the names of all humans. Every year, one evening at mid-Ramadan, the tree shakes. The names on the leaves that fall are of those who will die in the coming year.

It follows that sidr once served to purify the dead. In Iran, Iraq, India, and southwestern Saudi Arabia, deceased Muslims were washed water infused with sidr leaves. The custom has apparently faded out in most countries.

A magic holy sidr bath to deflect the evil eye?

It needs 7 powdered sidr leaves stirred into a bucket of warm water. The hadith of the Prophet Muhammad allows to repeat healing prayers and verses from the Koran to increase the water’s potency. 5 grams, or 1 tablespoon of sidr powder equals 7 leaves.

Take the bucket of warm sidr water into the shower and pour it all over. It’s ok to rinse off the powder residue. Then step out of the shower, freshly immune to other people’s bad vibes.

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Farm To Table Israel is transforming the traditional dining experience into a hands-on journey.

“People want to see and experience where the food comes from,” says Farm To Table owner Yakir Knafo. “I like to introduce guests to the small, ‘romantic’ farms where they get a personal feel for connection to the land.”

And you can hardly get more personal with the land than pulling carrots out of the ground yourself; carrots that you’ll watch a chef cook a little while later for lunch. Or standing under a tree peeling a juicy orange you plucked off a branch a second ago.

An hour in the field is followed two hours of a 7-course meal filled with the genuine flavors of Israeli food. It might be cooked then and there on the farm, to be eaten in the open air. Or you might head back to the Alhambra deli in Jaffa, where Farm To Table Israel guests feast at a communal table. You’ll enjoy a meal that’s as much about storytelling and community as it is about fresh, local flavors, and where every ingredient comes from local sources – even the salt.

Culinary tours include visits to an olive oil press, followed by a meal where every dish features a different local olive oil; or to a vineyard and boutique winery that shows how Israeli wines have gained international recognition. Or a group may visit one of the local dairies. A tour of an apiary and honey tastings in the works for the near future.

Each tour ends with a meal freshly cooked by Yakir and chef Aviel Elbaz, with the participation of any guests who like to cook. There’s a story behind every dish, even behind every ingredient. Guests leave the table enriched with history, a sense of connection with the land, and naturally, the lingering wellbeing that’s the gift of a delectable meal shared with friends.

Related: Ada’s home-roasted coffee in Jaffa

And that’s just one of the culinary experiences offered by Farm To Table Israel. Groups can also book hands-on cooking workshops for groups of friends and for business groups on a day out. Workshop themes include pickling and fermentation, seasonal cooking, and making pasta. Yakir told us that they will create a workshop focused on a special theme too, if requested.

Then there’s Alhambra, the Jaffa base for Farm To Table’s culinary workshops. It’s a café by day and wine bar by night, as well as a delicatessen offering Israeli gourmet specialties.

All of this was born of Yakir and Aviel’s vision to make food the connection between people and the land. Yakir has an enormous love of nature, the farmer, and the goodness of Israel’s sustainable foods. His enthusiasm overflows in spontaneous talk as visitors harvest, cook, and eat together.

Jaffa, close to Tel Aviv, is the mixed Jewish-Arab neighborhood where Alhambra operates, and where Yakir lives with his family. He interacts comfortably with close-by Arab businesses:

“We live together, after all. I get fish from Ibrahim, orange juice from Salem, and kitchen equipment from Abu Avram. We respect each other,” he says. His voice softens as he says that seaside Jaffa is very much like the Moroccan port town of Essaouira, where his grandfather was chief rabbi.

Alhambra is kosher under rabbinical supervision, dairy/fish. The partners offer cooking workshops there, but a group may also book a workshop near home.

::Farm To Table
::Deli Alhambra 
30 Jerusalem Blvd., Tel Aviv
+972 523 255 370

Traveling to Jaffa in the near future?

Read our green guide to Jaffa

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Iran’s second-largest city, Mashhad, is facing an acute water emergency after dam reservoirs feeding the city fell below three percent capacity, according to Iranian state and local media. Officials warn that without rainfall or improved inflows from neighboring Afghanistan, the city’s supply could soon collapse. It’s happened before that Iranian generals have accused Israel for stealing their clouds.

Iranians on X are talking about murdered bodies showing up in the dried sediment. “Reports that at least 74 bodies have been found in the Karaj Dam in Iran, all thought to be executed anti-regime dissidents,” says X commentator Nioh Berg.

“Because of the drought and lack of rain, this dam has dried up almost completely and revealed a MASS GRAVE. The victims had their hands and feet tied, and they were rolled into rugs, as well as wrapped in plastic. Their murderers didn’t account for the drought, and thought the bodies would never be found. This news story was published and then quickly deleted by regime media, after they realised it’s probably their own doing.”

“The water storage in Mashhad’s dams has now fallen to less than three percent,” Hossein Esmaeilian, the chief executive of the water company in Iran’s second largest city by population, tells ISNA news agency. He adds that “the current situation shows that managing water use is no longer merely a recommendation — it has become a necessity.”

Mashhad lies in Razavi Khorasan Province in northeastern Iran, a semi-arid region dependent on a small network of dams for drinking water, agriculture, and limited power generation. The most critical of these are the Doosti (Friendship) Dam, built jointly by Iran and Turkmenistan on the Hari (Harirud) River; and the smaller Kardeh and Torogh dams that directly supply the urban network.

The Doosti Dam, completed in 2004 near the Turkmen border, was designed to provide up to 60 % of Mashhad’s potable water. But its inflows have plummeted after Afghanistan’s Taliban government inaugurated the Pashdan Dam upstream on the Hari River near Herat earlier this year. Iranian officials accuse Kabul of violating cross-border water agreements and cutting off critical flows. The Iranian daily Jomhouri-e Eslami warned this week that the new Afghan dam “threatens the very survival” of Mashhad’s reservoirs.

The Hari River — about 1,000 kilometers long — originates in Afghanistan’s central highlands, flows west through Herat into Iran, and ends in Turkmenistan’s Karakum Desert. Historically, its seasonal floods recharged aquifers and sustained farming along the Iranian border. But with multiple new Afghan dams under Taliban control, less water is reaching Iran’s northeastern provinces, even as rising temperatures and a prolonged regional drought accelerate evaporation.

Related: The Taliban kills Japanese water hero

Within Iran, years of poor water management compound the crisis. Kardeh and Torogh dams, both built in the 1970s, are now near “dead storage,” with barely enough volume for municipal use. Over-extraction of groundwater around Mashhad — home to more than three million people and millions of pilgrims annually — has further destabilized the system, causing land subsidence and salinization of wells.

Iran has also been spending billions normalizing terror by finding Palestinians to join Hamas, Lebanese to join the Hezbollah and for the Yemenites to become Houthis. Paying for conflict and not supporting your own people, comes with a high cost. The Iranian regime hates Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Israel so much that it will sacrifice anything in its global jihad.

Experts say the situation underscores both climate vulnerability and political risk in transboundary basins. Iran’s government is pressing for negotiations with the Taliban over shared water rights, as Afghanistan pulls the plug on its water by creating its own dams, but cooperation remains uncertain amid border skirmishes and mistrust.

If inflows from Afghanistan remain restricted and rainfall fails again this winter, Mashhad could face mandatory rationing and long-term aquifer collapse — a warning sign for the entire region as climate change and geopolitics converge in Iran’s drying east. Could we see a bigger conflict between Iran and Afghanistan? A good possibility. Similar tensions have been brewing for years between Ethiopia building the GERD dam and Egypt which is being denied water upstream.

If you’ve ever travelled to cities like Amman, Jordan, the water-stressed city shows how life goes on with water stress. Some city folks get water piped in once a week, but because municipal supply is so limited, many households, businesses, and institutions buy extra water from private tanker trucks and store this in private reservoirs so they never run out.

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A new study by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) paints a stark picture of agricultural land degradation, particularly in the Arab region. More than 46 million hectares—nearly two-thirds of all land suffering human-induced damage in the region—are now at risk. The findings, published in Agriculture (MDPI), stress the urgent need to restore degraded land to safeguard food supplies, especially where climate pressures are mounting.

The Arab Spring started because of the price of bread and the lack of water resources to grow food. The civil war in Syria began for the same reasons. As the Arab world gets drier, conflicts in countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan will only get more intense.

Globally, an estimated 1.66 billion hectares of land have been degraded by human activities such as deforestation, overgrazing, mismanaged irrigation, and heavy chemical use. Over 60 percent of that damage falls on croplands and pastures—the soils that feed 95 percent of the world’s population. If allowed to worsen, degradation could undercut entire agrifood systems and the communities that depend on them.

Related: this greenhouse technology grows food on salty aquifers 

Across the Arab world, croplands face a perfect storm of stressors. Excessive fertilizers and pesticides erode soil ecology. Poor drainage and over-irrigation drive salinization, leaving fields crusted with salt. Rising temperatures, dwindling groundwater, and more frequent sand-and-dust storms—all amplified by climate change—compound the crisis. These are unmistakably human-driven pressures, and they are accelerating. Consider that Morocco lost half its wheat last year from drought. How many more migrants and climate refugees from the Middle East and North Africa can Europe accept? The solution is to help.

Less than 4 percent of degraded land in the Arab region is currently earmarked for restoration. FAO analysts calculate that rehabilitating 26 million hectares of worn-out cropland could trim yield gaps by as much as 50 percent for oil crops and lift cereals, roots, and tubers toward their full potential—a direct boost to local food security and rural incomes.

The study urges governments, farmers, investors, and researchers to adopt integrated soil, water, and land-management strategies designed to stop further degradation and rebuild fertility. Rather than relying on one-off projects, it recommends coordinated regional programs that share data, finance, and know-how—tailored to the diverse ecological zones from Morocco’s Atlantic coast to Iraq’s river valleys. Israel has water technologies from water companies such as Netafim to help rip irrigation deliver more drops per crop.

Momentum is growing. Recent ministerial meetings in Riyadh committed to ambitious restoration targets, and the UN’s FAO-backed NENA Regional Investment Framework for Ecosystem Restoration is lining up “champion countries” to pilot scalable projects. Innovative tools such as the Suitability Crop Platform—an open database of soil profiles, climate metrics, and crop requirements—are making it easier for farmers and planners to match the right crops to recovering lands.

See this museum of Middle East soil in the UAE

Healthy soils do more than grow food. They store carbon, regulate water, and support biodiversity—services that underpin every other climate-adaptation effort. By restoring degraded fields, countries in the Arab region can build jobs, reduce rural poverty, and bolster resilience against heat and drought. The lesson is clear: investing in the ground beneath our feet is the fastest way to secure food sovereignty in a hotter, drier future.

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In the volcanic highlands of northern Jordan, north of Amman engineers are mining a natural resource not for energy, but for agriculture. The material: crushed volcanic rock, now also processed into a mineral-rich soil that may hold the key to reducing water and fertilizer demand in arid regions.

The project is led by Watad, a Jordanian company founded in 2019. The firm processes volcanic rocks such as zeolite, basalt, and pozzolana into what it calls “volcanic soil”—a porous, salt-resistant substrate that improves water retention and plant growth in dry climates.

“There’s zeolite, like the one we have in the mine here. There is zeolitic tuff in one of the other mines we have. There are basalt and pozzolana,” said Ibrahim al-Manaseer, a mine engineer at the site near Mafraq in an interview with Reuters. “All of them are volcanic rocks that formed thousands of years ago.”

Watad currently produces around one million tons of volcanic soil annually, and its CEO, Mohannad al-Manaseer, says the company could scale up rapidly. al-Manaseer said the goal is to replace conventional fertilizers and soil additives with a more durable and environmentally stable alternative.

Early field reports suggest volcanic soil may reduce irrigation needs by up to 60% and cut fertilizer use by 80%. That could have significant implications for Jordan, which ranks as the second most water-scarce country in the world, with per capita water availability under 100 cubic meters per year, well below the UN’s threshold for extreme water stress.

When we visited Jordan we learned that hotels and homes get fresh water shipped to reservoirs weekly. Some people keep second hidden reservoirs to avoid running out.

Related: Jordan’s leading ecological organizations

While long-term studies are still needed to assess environmental and agronomic impacts across diverse ecosystems, the use of volcanic material in soil enhancement is not new. Zeolites, in particular, have been studied for decades due to their ion exchange and adsorption properties.

What’s novel is the scale—and the urgency. In a region where desertification, rising temperatures, and resource stress are converging, Jordan’s push to mine its volcanic past could represent a rare alignment of geology and necessity.

Jordan has been working with water cooperation with Israel and the Palestinian Authority over the last couple of decades through Friends of the Earth, Middle East – Ecopeace. They are working to broker small-scale local projects in education, but also are working on larger water for energy swaps. The October 7 terror attack changed the political outlook for Israel and Jordanian cooperation, two countries that have a signed peace treaty.

Time for water cooperation? 

The Wadi Araba Treaty established cooperation between Jordan and Israel on various matters, including water sharing. In November 2022, both Jordan and Israel signed a declaration of intent at the UN climate conference to rehabilitate and protect the Jordan River, aiming to reduce pollution and restore water flow.

A 2013 agreement involved developing a desalination plant in Aqaba, with potable water shared between Israel and Jordan, and increased water releases from Lake Tiberias to Jordan. But in November 2023, Jordan announced it would not sign a proposed water-for-energy deal with Israel, citing Israel’s actions in Gaza as the reason.

Jordan is currently advancing its own water security through the Aqaba–Amman Water Desalination and Conveyance Project, aiming to produce about 300 million cubic meters of clean drinking water annually. Jordan is landlocked except for a small strip of the Red Sea, where it is bordered by Israel and Saudi Arabia.

The Abraham Accords which is creating a peace treaty and regional cooperation between countries such as Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, will likely lead to water cooperation for a very dry Jordan.

::Wated

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Just days into President Ursula von der Leyen’s second EU Commission, leading European food giants including Danone and Unilever wasted no time in delivering a pointed challenge to new Agriculture and Food Commissioner, Christophe Hansen. In a 9 December letter, the group urges Hansen to develop an ambitious Vision for Agriculture and Food to accelerate Europe’s sustainable food transition, framing this undertaking as equally critical for the industry’s long-term competitiveness.

Central to their appeal is Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform – currently among Brussels’s hot-button issues – with the sector advocating for a new system of environmental payments that increase annually, helping farmers balance green and economic necessities. The Danone-led group is also pushing for boosted funding for young and new farmers to ensure EU agri-food resilience amid the aging sector’s major demographic challenges. Facing a tight budgetary situation, Hansen and von der Leyen will need to convene a wide range of stakeholders to implement this new vision and replace the past mandate’s ‘stick’-heavy regulatory approach with a ‘carrot’ system based on green farming incentives and innovative income support measures.

CAP overhaul anchoring future talks

In his first days in office, Commissioner Hansen has set a bold tone for reform, expressing his support for disbursing a larger share of the bloc’s €387 billion CAP subsidy programme to  small, low-income farmers. Long its largest source of criticism, the CAP continues to  disproportionately reward agribusiness giants, with the largest 20% of farms absorbing 80% of the budget due to the system’s outdated hectare-based payment system. 

Acknowledging the budgetary constraints amid mounting defense and reindustrialisation priorities in Brussels, Hansen has characterised his call for a CAP overhaul that “better targets the support to those most in need” as an “evolution” to re-balance the farming support system in a financially feasible manner. Nevertheless, Hansen’s proposed changes could mark the CAP’s most profound reorientation in its six-decade existence. 

This new approach follows the Commission’s recent compromises to dilute the environmental goals of last mandate’s Farm to Fork strategy, largely in response to the bloc’s sweeping farmers’ protests by farmers and MEP pressure ahead of the European elections. Yet, while the latter essentially amounts to shallow, albeit pro-farmer, political pandering, Hansen’s appetite for genuine innovation bodes well for the sector’s future. 

Echoing Hansen’s strategic focus, the EU Council approved a set of conclusions on 9 December outlining key priorities for CAP revision, with the bloc’s 27 agriculture ministers stressing the need for farmers’ equitable remuneration, fairer and more transparent supply chains value distribution and bolstered competitiveness across the EU’s agri-food sector.

Dismantling lingering obstacles 

This growing momentum for change reflects Brussels’s broader recognition that economic viability must underpin sustainable agricultural practices. On 10 December, Von der Leyen offered her own proposals to bolster the sector’s negotiating position, from mandatory contracts between farmers and food companies to softened competition rules for young farmers and tighter oversight of retail pricing, while Hansen has equally highlighted the exploitative, income-killing practices of major retailers.

Yet, despite these good intentions, the EU executive risks undermining the farmers they aim to support with a lingering vestige of the widely-discredited Farm to Fork agenda: the front-of-package nutrition label proposal. Indeed, the French creates Nutri-Score has once again found itself in a media storm, with French retail giant Carrefour recently mandating that suppliers display the label on all online products, threatening to publicly call out producers that fail to comply.

The EU cannot in good faith back a labelling system which the very supermarkets they aim to rein in are now using to pressure EU producers – particularly given that Nutri-Score has long disproportionately impacted the bloc’s small, local farmers. With its outdated algorithm, Nutri-Score continues to unfairly grade natural, traditional products, such as olive oil, PDO cheeses and cured meats, at the heart of Europe’s culinary heritage and balanced dietary traditions.

Local farmers across Europe have risen against this misguided imposition that undermines their competitiveness and supermarket bargaining power, prompting an expanding group of governments, including those of Portugal, Spain, Greece and Czechia, to snub the label. The agri-food industry’s biggest players, such as Danone, once a key backer of Nutri-Score, are equally starting to drop the label, recognising its misleading impact for consumers.

Even in France, independent nutritional research is increasingly proving Nutri-Score’s opponents right, contrary to the Nutri-Score team’s claims of unanimous scientific backing. The Commission should therefore consistently apply its emerging policy approach and relegate the labelling proposal to the past. 

Scaling innovative new solutions 

The EU executive must instead focus on novel ideas to bolster farmers’ competitiveness while facilitating the sustainable transition. Commissioner Hansen has encouraged the bloc’s farmers to explore “alternative income” streams to enhance the sector’s economic resilience, citing growing crops for biofuels, planting trees for carbon credit payments  and optimising land usage with solar panels and other forms of green energy production. 

The latter avenue, dubbed “agrivoltaics,” has emerged as a particularly promising solution over the past year, with the EU already recognising its potential by including funding and support mechanisms in innovation programmes such as Horizon Europe. Paired with tax incentives and credits for green energy and agricultural practices, the EU can help pave the way for farmers to unlock their full contribution to a “resilient, competitive and sustainable agri-food system European food system” – a mission von der Leyen has assigned the newly-launched European Board on Agriculture and Food tasked with de-polarising the policy debate and renewing ties with farmers. 

The path forward demands bold leadership. The EU Commission will need to embrace the recent call from industry leaders like Danone and Unilever to balance environmental ambition with economic pragmatism, with CAP reform offering the foundation to launch this new agenda. Delivering targeted incentives and greater support for young and small farmers is not just a policy priority, but a necessity for the sector’s future. Now is the time to move beyond restrictive approaches and cultivate genuine cooperation at the heart of Europe’s agri-food system.

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In the fertile plains of Turkey known as the Konya Plain and celebrated as the country’s breadbasket, an eerie phenomenon is taking shape. More than 2,600 sinkholes have appeared in the last years and experts believe it’s from drought and a reckless use of the country’s groundwater draining the aquifers.

Varying in size the sinkholes are starting to threaten not on the farmers’ lives but residential areas as well including the regions of Cihanbeyli, Yunak, Kulu, Sarayönü and Kadınhanı, where the farmers’ rely on grain production.

While sinkholes are believed to occur in nature, experts in Turkey say the sudden increase is manmade. Officials at the the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) and the Sinkhole Application Research Center at Konya Technical University are closely monitoring the situation. 

Read related: Sinkholes from the Dead Sea region

Will authorities be able to get groundwater overuse under control?

Turkey is notorious for cutting corners and disregarding policies meant to protect people. Years of neglect is the reason why there are so many fatalities after earthquakes in Turkey. The same is true with the recent decision to cull millions of dogs, 4 million dogs, from the streets of Turkey.

Turkish environmentalists were killed for protecting the land. The least we can do is petition that justice is served.

The government had issued rules for sterilizing feral dogs and cats on the streets. The policies weren’t enforced and now the animals are paying the price.

In other areas, whistleblowing against pollution can send you to jail in Turkey. Treehuggers have been murdered for protecting forests against mining. Read the story on Ali Ulvi and Aysin Büyüknohutçu.

Word to visitors to Turkey: Watch out.

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The growing demand for sustainable living and farming is no hidden secret in today’s eco-sensitive world. The climate is changing rapidly for the worse. 

So is the way we do farming. The food quality around the world is decreasing without limit because of the chemicals and pesticides we use for faster harvesting and production. 

That is when and why leading PV systems providers like Soltec are changing the entire ecological and agricultural system of how we utilize renewable sources like sunlight.

With the integration of photovoltaic systems, we can drastically change how we farm and organically harvest the produce. The yield will be much better and healthier for consumers. 

Let’s learn about these systems below in detail. The knowledge will help you improve the quality of the produce on any farmland. 

Intersection of Agriculture and Solar Power in 2024

Farming processes from irrigation, harvesting, and nurturing plants need sunlight as a constant renewable energy source. 

Traditionally, farmers started to use pesticides and other chemically harmful alternatives for better output on the farmland they irrigate. But that has costed us – and the planet – an arm and leg. 

Now is the time to know more about the importance of the sun in agriculture. It is the cleanest form of energy, one that is renewable and easily available to us for growing the best of the best produce. 

Hence, with a cost-effective solar tracking system, an average farmer can store, process, and utilize solar energy without heavy investments.

What do we mean by Photovoltaic Systems (PV)?

Integrated PV systems fit into the existing electricity systems for tracking, trapping, and helping the farmers utilize solar energy which must be readily available at any time. 

The traditional energy storage systems were not usually present on the land. That is not the case with modern PV systems. Farmers can install these adjacent to the farmland and use these solar trackers to trap and track solar energy around the clock. 

Components of a vast and usable PV system might include inverters, solar panels, and other items to store, track, and convert solar energy into electricity in seconds. 

Types of PV Systems to Know 

For better knowledge, let’s not learn about the different types of PV systems you can find on the farmlands. 

1. Ground-mounted:

These traditional PV systems were mounted on the ground but not where the crops were grown. These were on the unused lands close to the farms where crops were grown for a significant flow of electricity. 

2. Floating Photovoltaic systems:

Find these mounted onto irrigation systems or reservoirs to avoid water evaporation or algae growth. 

3. Agrovoltaics:

These are the modernized PV systems that farmers can mount onto the farmlands or directly/indirectly above the crops for a certain amount of sunlight on a set clock. These PV systems improve land efficiency and protect crops from extremely cloudy or dusty conditions, providing them with energy whenever necessary for optimal growth. 

Role of PV Systems in Improving Agricultural Efficiency

1. Efficient use of land:

Farmers have now recognized the need to use their lands better and more efficiently. They no longer worry about not receiving the right amount of energy, water, or electricity because of these solar panels and tracking systems. 

With the land transforming into a multipurpose field, farmers can utilize it in many ways, lowering the per-yield cost. 

2. Reduction in using water during irrigation:

The shade cover provided by floating PV systems, agrovoltaics, or dual-row single-axis systems helps reduce the chances of water evaporation. The influential microclimate created by these panels helps yield more output in terms of the higher produce per acre of farmland. 

3. Independence from the non-renewable energy sources:

Farmers no longer have to grow extensively, dependent on non-renewable sources for irrigation and harvesting their produce. 

Now, their agricultural activities are more oriented towards renewable energies, like solar panels and trackers. These improve their way of farming and let the crops be better for healthier consumption.

4. Help farmers save funds for bigger investments:

The solar trackers and panels are not that costly for farmers in the long run. They can consider these PV systems as a one-time investment. 

With the help of these integrated PV systems, they don’t have to go on investing money in non-renewable sources of generating electricity, which already harms the environment more. 

Instead, they can save these funds and invest in greener projects or crops. This improves their overall efficiency in producing organic raw materials so that allied and dependent industries can grow greener as well. 

5. Generate electricity and solar energy on demand:

Integrated PV systems provide access to large units of electricity at any time. Farmers get the superpower to generate solar energy like the sun pouring the light over the crops even on a cloud or rain day.

This removes the chances of crops going to waste because of unsettling weather. It is highly important to consistently grow farm produce and help the energy market scale with healthier produce. 

Frmers have one-click access to produce electricity with these panels. So they can harvest more challenging crops or produce without caring much about the current weather. 

The Future of PV Systems in Agriculture

The demand for sustainable and organic farming is only to shoot up in the next decade. This will help the owners and manufacturers of integrated PV systems like Soltec to develop more innovative solutions in the times ahead. 

Government policies and bank lending incentives are becoming more supportive of such innovations in the future as the profit margins increase for an average farmer.

Ready to Invest in integrated PV Systems for Better Output from Organic Farming?

We hope you understand the concept of integrated PV systems to improve the overall efficiency of the farmland above. If you think you’re ready to go green and sustainable, this could be your way on the bandwagon. 

Invest in PV systems today if you want to have anytime access to untapped solar energy and electricity – a possible way forward for sustainable and organic farming with increased profits. 

The post How Can Integrated Photovoltaic Systems Increase Agricultural Efficiency? appeared first on Green Prophet.

The king of Morocco has decided to pardon 5,000 farmers convicted of illegal cannabis cultivation, the justice ministry said in a statement on Monday.

Morocco is now a major cannabis producer and has legislated the cultivation, export and use of the drug for medicine or in industry since 2021, but it does not allow it to be used for recreational purposes. Cannabis extracts such as CBD has been found to be helpful to treat autism and epilepsy.

The latest pardon by King Mohammed VI would encourage farmers “to engage in the legal process of cannabis cultivation to improve their revenue and living conditions,” Mohammed El Guerrouj, the head of Moroccan cannabis regulator ANRAC, told Reuters.

Morocco’s first legal cannabis harvest weighed 294 metric tons back in 2023, according to officials.

This year it is expected to be higher as the number of farming permits increases officials allow farmers to cultivate a local strain called Beldia.

About a million people live in northern Morocco where cannabis is now the main economic activity. People have been growing and smoking it for generations, along with tobacco in long-stemmed pipes.

Legalization was meant to stop trafficking and improve the farmers’ income. It has awarded 54 export permits last year. Here is a great research article on the history and challenges of cannabis and medical marijuana in Morocco from 2017.

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French energy giant EDF have made an investment in agRE.tech, a pioneering startup in the Agrivoltaic sector

The company has completed a pre-seed fundraising round, securing approximately $2 million USD for the development of an advanced robotic operating system tailored for agrovoltaic fields.

The start-up agRE.tech is pioneering the development of advanced robotics technology and artificial intelligence for use in agriculture and climate management. This innovative approach addresses manpower challenges in agriculture, increases productivity, and supports the global goals of large-scale green energy such as solar energy production within the same agricultural areas.

This fundraising round saw notable contributions from key players in the economy, including Zemach Mifalim (Zemach Regional Industries) and EDF. Zemach Mifalim, a co-initiator of agRE.tech, leads the way through the “Kinneret Innovation Center,” specializing in climate and agriculture.

EDF, the French Energy giant, brings its international expertise in energy to the project, furthering the vision of leveraging agricultural spaces for green energy production.

Over the past year, agRE.tech has been dedicated to developing an advanced robotic operating system tailored for agrivoltaic areas. This system, integrated into existing photovoltaic infrastructure, utilizes artificial intelligence to execute complex agricultural tasks autonomously, such as selective spraying, pruning, and harvesting. Additionally, it oversees the control and maintenance operations of the solar fields.

CEO and co-founder Elad Levy brings a wealth of experience in robotics, having previously served as Founder & CEO of Roboteam, a company with thousands of robotic systems deployed worldwide. Elad leads the team alongside Yaniv Marmur, a seasoned expert in multidisciplinary systems engineering, serving as CTO. The company has filed several patents in the field and has already established a development field above a vineyard where its robotic operating system is operational.

The Agrivoltaics market, which combines solar energy production with agriculture, presents a $4 billion opportunity. agRE.tech is poised to accelerate and expand this market to tens of billions of dollars with its groundbreaking technology.

agRE.tech is currently in the advanced stages of establishing the first commercial fields with integrated robotic capabilities in both local and international markets, including Italy, where a significant budget of 1.7 billion euros has been allocated for grovoltaic projects.

“After over a decade in defense and civil robotics, we identified climate and agriculture as burgeoning fields where we can contribute to global efforts addressing the climate crisis and food security,” says Elad Levy, CEO of agRE.tech. “The convergence of these sectors presents immense potential for technological and business innovation. It’s a great honor for us to have esteemed companies like EDF and Zemach partnering with us to spearhead the robotic agrivoltaic sector and pave the way for a sustainable future for all”

EDF, with an installed capacity of approximately 137GW and an installed solar capacity of over 3,000MW, is a frontrunner in renewable and solar energy. The company invests heavily in international research and development in the agrivoltaic field, anticipating significant growth in the coming years.

Just recently EDF invested in the The Dumat Al-Jandal wind farm with a capacity of 400MW, stands as a pioneering endeavor in Saudi Arabia’s renewable energy landscape in an ancient land. It’s Saudi Arabia’s first wind farm. At 400MW, it is the largest wind farm in the Middle East, displacing almost one million tonnes of CO2 annually.

Developed by a consortium led by EDF Renewables (51%) and Masdar (49%), with the client being Saudi Aramco this project not only marks the kingdom’s inaugural utility-scale wind power initiative but also ranks among the largest wind farms in the Middle East.

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