BioCarbon says its two drones can plant 100,000 trees in a single day. It has started in Myanmar (previously called Burma) following successful trials in England and Australia, The drones work in three stages. Firstly the drones will map an area, analysing surface topology and composition, soil type and moisture, as well as possible physical obstructions. These analyses help decide which seeds should be planted. Secondly, the drones fly low, around 3-6 feet above the ground, planting new seeds every six seconds. The drones aren't however just letting the seeds drift in the breeze. Each drone uses a pressurised can to shoot a biodegradable seed pod into the ground. Thirdly, after the mapping and planting, the drones monitor the area regularly. That data gets fed into the company's machine learning algorithms, strengthening the mapping part of the plan. The process is ideal for reforesting after fires and planting trees in difficult to reach areas.  

Salt crystal flares are fired into the updraft of suitable clouds in the UAE in the hope that it will trigger more rainfall. The idea is that water vapour condenses around the salt, crystallises to form ice and then falls as rain. Only natural salts and no harmful chemicals are used in the seeding operations. The UAE established the Research Programme for Rain Enhancement in 2015 to look into ways to tackle water security. https://www.thenational.ae/uae/environment/six-cloud-seeding-missions-over-uae-in-past-two-days-1.693975

Vertical farming allows for food production using a tiny fraction of the water and land of conventional agriculture and without the use of pesticides or fertilisers. San Francisco-headquartered Plenty, with funding from Amazon?s Jeff Bezos, is building enormous indoor farms to grow fresh produce ? mainly greens at this point ? close to or inside cities where they will be eaten, which cuts down on the CO2 required to transport food. https://www.plenty.ag/

We should all start a holiday that comes directly before earth day where we post a picture of our favorite tree on social media, just as a bit of fun and a new tradition.

A team of agricultural scientists working with the CSIRO has invented a digital device called the Chameleon, which offers a simple new way to measure how moist the soil is under crops. It only costs a few dollars to manufacture, making it a truly viable solution for farming communities around the world. Quite often the only way of currently knowing if crops are getting enough, or too much, water is to wait until the plant shows physical signs of stress. https://blog.csiro.au/good-karma-for-water-saving-chameleon/