Maximum Yield USA April 2018 | Page 22

i maxfacts growing news, tips, & trivia Pitt State Team Creates Hydroponic System for Haitian Orphanage A group of Pittsburg State University (PSU) students is making the world a better place developing a hydroponic system for an orphanage in Haiti. “Overall, in one word, it has been amazing,” says Dodge Mattingly, a PSU freshman. “Getting work with different kinds of people on the same project with one goal—I’ve had a lot of fun.” The group of 20-25 students, makes up the university’s team for Enactus, a community of student, academic, and business leaders committed to using the power of entrepreneurial action to create a better world. Mattingly served as the project’s chief engineer and designer. He researched existing hydroponic systems and tried to morph design aspects from each of them into one that would serve the Haitian orphanage. The system for the orphanage, he says, needed to be lightweight and inexpensive. Because of an unreliable power network in Haiti, the system also needed to be independent of an electric pump system. by to —joplinglobe.com Farmland Could Sustainably Offset America’s Carbon Footprint Amid the debate on how to curb climate change in Bonn, Germany, last year, an impasse was broken on agriculture. Both a cause and casualty of climate change, our food system accounts for up to 24 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions. In Bonn at the latest round of climate talks, a compromise was made to allow two technical bodies to work together to identify solutions on how the agriculture sector can be a part of the solution. The question is: Where to begin? One solution stands out. Eighty-nine per cent of agriculture’s future mitigation potential could lie in capturing carbon on farmland soils. In other words, carbon sequestration. Not only does this process suck carbon out of the atmosphere, it makes soils healthier and more fertile for future food production. Efforts to capitalize on this win-win solution need to be stepped up—and now. —qz.com Israeli Researchers Create Superfood Powder from Unwanted Apples Israeli researchers have found a way to make a nutritious superfood powder from apples. The discovery was a solution to the 16,500 tons—10 per cent of the country’s annual yield of fruit—discarded each year due to appearance, size, or falling to the ground before ripening. The discarded apples were traditionally sold to the juice industry for a fraction of their value or even just thrown away. Dr. Ofir Benjamin and Prof. Raffi Stern from Tel Chai Academic College and the Galilee Development Authority, respectively, created a powder that is first grated then freeze-dried with the addition of a very small amount of milk powder to prevent crystallization. With 0.02 ounces of vitamin C per 3.5 ounces, the powder is intended as a healthy alternative to sweeten soft drinks and as a natural nutritional supplement. Researchers say it also has a high percentage of antioxidants and nutritional fiber, making it a superfood. —freshfruitportal.com 22 tapped in