They invested in new drip-irrigation systems and computers for packing houses that sort by size and color.

FORBES: Magazine Article

There are pilot-projects with fast-growing trees that can be pollarded for firewood, and drip-feed irrigation for saplings.

ECONOMIST: Missing trees reflect the country's woeful recent history

Even without new seed varieties or fancy drip-feed irrigation, investment should help farmers.

ECONOMIST: Buying farmland abroad

We help these families have permanent land for cultivation, we help them access modern technology with low-water-intake drip irrigation, we create village reservoirs for year-round water, and then we teach them to produce fruits and vegetables with a harvest every two weeks so they can sell year round.

FORBES: Why the Ivory Problem Requires Dealing with Supply Not Demand

This is high-tech stuff that involves not just drip irrigation and condensation-trapping greenhouses, but remote sensing by satellites which provide ET readings for areas of 30 by 30 metres.

ECONOMIST: But the science of yields is unyielding

Among these figure water-harvesting technologies and drip irrigation, as well as technologies that recycle grey water in peri-urban agriculture.

UNESCO: World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP)

However, this seemingly dry and arid region in southern Israel is now home to a burgeoning wine route, thanks to a group of pioneering 21st-century farmers and their use of computerized drip irrigation.

BBC: The Negev desert wine route

The MGM Mirage company installed low-flow bathroom fixtures inside its 11 Las Vegas hotels and drip irrigation outside.

NPR: Stakes High for Las Vegas Water Czar

Five are commercial ventures, including the overall winner, Bioneedle, and a Kenya-based social enterprise, Backpack Farm Agriculture Program, which sells tools and products like seeds and drip irrigation equipment to small commercial farmers in East Africa.

FORBES: The World's Best Sustainability Ideas