Innovation rush aims to help farmers, rich and poor, beat climate change

LONDON - In decades to come, African farmers may pool their money to buy small robot vehicles to weed their fields or drones that can hover to squirt a few drops of pesticide only where needed. Smartphones already allow farmers in remote areas to snap photos of sick plants, upload them and get a quick diagnosis, plus advice on treatment. Researchers also are trying to train crops like maize and wheat to produce their own nitrogen fertilizer from the air -- a trick soybeans and other legumes use -- and exploring how to make wheat and rice better at photosynthesis in very hot conditions. As warmer, wilder weather linked to climate change brings growing challenges for farmers across the globe -- and as they try to curb their own heat-trapping emissions -- a rush of innovation aimed at helping both rich and poor farmers is now converging in ways that could benefit them all, scientists say. In a hotter world, farmers share "the same problems, the same issues," said Svend Christensen, head of plant and environmental sciences at the University of Copenhagen.