- Mongabay India reported several stories on emerging technologies in 2024 and their role in agriculture, industry, conservation and climate mitigation.
- Stories based on artificial intelligence (AI) and genetic and genome analyses of different species were prominent in our reporting.
- We also looked at futuristic technologies such as solar geoengineering, air-to-water systems, and deep-sea mining.
Environment technology leverages innovative tools to help solve some of humanity’s most urgent crises such as food security, biodiversity loss, human-wildlife conflicts, climate change, disasters and more.
This year, Mongabay India reported several stories on emerging environment technologies. We published about 50 stories under the theme Climate Innovations which focused on agriculture and the medium and small enterprises (MSME) sectors, featuring new technological innovations and redesigns of existing technologies. We also wrote stories on drones in conservation, innovations in agriculture, pollution and waste management, satellite data for disaster management and more. We spoke to researchers who use bioacoustics and eDNA, to understand different species.
What’s notable about the stories in 2024 is that even those not centred on technology, highlighted emerging technologies or the role of tech.
AI all the way
2024 was all about AI. Artificial intelligence (AI) is the technology that became a driving force for many innovations. We reported stories that threw light how AI is helping the people and the planet with innovations in agriculture technology, biodiversity conservation, disaster management, waste management and more.
To help farmers understand their soil better and make informed decisions regarding irrigation, and other agronomic practices, AI-powered soil testing machines provide soil health cards. The machines can continuously monitor key soil parameters and provide real-time insights.
An AI-based app is helping farmers diagnose pests and diseases in about 31 major crops which includes paddy, maize, cotton and some fruits and vegetables. Farmers are also using AI to automate their irrigation systems. Even in the post-harvest stage, startups are using AI and machine learning to precisely calculate the demand for agricultural produce, to avoid losses. While AI acceptance and climate-smart farming expands, the technology adoption is fragmented and doesn’t reach all farmers.
Our biodiversity stories also featured AI. The click beetle of the family Elateridae is poorly studied in India even though there are over 800 species of elaterids recorded from the Indian subcontinent. Science decodes their behaviour and also sees an opportunity to conquer new frontiers in the growing fields of biomimicry and AI.
A recent study based in Kangra, Himachal Pradesh, found that employment generation schemes like MGNREGA led to big gains in both livelihood and forest cover outcomes in areas with plantations. The researchers used interpretable machine learning (IML) to create predictive insights for different outcomes.
Also, as interdisciplinary collaboration in scientific research grows, contemporary science festivals in India are bringing together psychologists, economists, biologists, and artists to discuss important topics such as climate change, artificial intelligence, and consciousness.
Genetic technology, gene-editing and genome analyses
In recent years, the world has witnessed a giant leap forward in cutting-edge genetic and genome research. Genetic and morphological analyses of king cobras from across their range revealed that it is not a single species, but four distinct ones. The study findings have implications on the species conservation and antivenom production as two of the four species identified are highly endangered.
Similarly, a recent genome study of elephants in India identified five distinct genetic populations of elephants in the country. Researchers suggest that the findings have multiple applications in the field, including population estimation and conflict management.
The identity of a new lizard, Agasthyagama edge, was ascertained after combing through specimens available in Indian and international museums and conducting genetic and morphological analyses.
In central India, a study looked at how changes in land use patterns and the development of roads are disrupting the genetic connectivity of two large herbivores — gaur and sambar. The study is among the earliest studies to examine the genetic connectivity of large herbivores at a landscape scale in India.
Researchers also found that wild populations of Indian star tortoises, one of the most trafficked species in the world, exist as two genetically distinct. Integrating genetic data can leverage information on biological traits and natural genetic variation, so that seized individuals can be released in environments where they have a higher chance of survival.
With respect to agriculture, a biotechnology innovation called gene-editing, manipulates the existing genes of a crop’s seed to make them withstand these stressors and become climate-resilient. Ethical and safety considerations in fortifying seeds to be resistant to climate change and pests, still persist. However, researchers in favour of the technology are hopeful.
Flash forward
While there are many gaps that these existing technologies need to address, there are also futuristic technologies that fascinated our readers.
As Indian cities have been staring at the looming threat of a potential Day Zero for some time now, can generating water from air help deal with the water crisis? Generating water from the atmosphere is not a new concept. Various organisations worldwide have been employing this technology. However, researchers are now looking at an innovative technology that uses a liquid desiccant to bottle atmospheric water for consumption. Unlike the more commonly used condensation technology, the liquid desiccant approach makes the air-to-water process more efficient and accessible.
A controversial technology with the potential to control the global climate is gaining interest in India. The technology in question, solar geoengineering, is a proposal to cool the earth by reflecting some of the sun’s radiation back into space. The repercussions of this technology on the earth’s natural systems, as well on global governance, have led to widespread resistance to its experimentation. But Indian scientists are beginning to show an interest in researching the implications of solar geoengineering.
Another debated technology that we discussed in our reporting is deep-sea mining. Even as the International Seabed Authority, is yet to finalise the mining code for commercial purposes, those with exploratory licenses have been conducting mining trials in international waters. India also recently conducted an exploratory deep-sea mining trial in the Andaman Sea.
Technologies come with risks and challenges. At Mongabay India, we use evidence-based reporting to look at the role of technology in solving climate and conservation challenges. In an attempt to solve these problems, technology must overcome some difficult challenges such as accessibility and equity, scalability, high costs, energy dependence, regulatory hurdles, and ethical considerations with data privacy, in the coming years.
Banner image: An agriculture drone by Fuselage used for precision spraying on crops. Image by Narayana Swamy Subbaraman for Mongabay.
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