True, most of us are home gardeners rather than farmers, but I found
this article fascinating for its innovative approach to analyzing
"microclimates" rather than large acreages, with potential for helping
to solve the world's looming food shortages.

Here's the first few paragraphs from the report via Reuters. The full
article can be found at:

http://tinyurl.com/82dcprl

"+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++

- Scientists in Israel have developed a way of using satellite images
to help farmers detect small-scale changes in climate and improve
their harvests, a method that could bolster food supplies for an
increasingly hungry world population.

Rather than analyze the weather and topography of large swathes of
land, the new system divides fields into smaller microclimates that
guide farmers on the best way to work each individual plot.

It tells them when it is best to plant seeds, when to spray pesticides
and even which crop is most suitable for each square-kilometer field,
said Uri Dayan, a climatologist from Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

HB