Kazakhstan: Alfalfa's bold future, more with less water

Multi-flowered alfalfa (Medicago sativa subspecies varia) in the scientific farm of the Kazakhstan Research Institute of Agriculture and Plant Growing (KNIISH). Arken Nazarov doesn’t hesitate when asked about the problems faced by alfalfa growers like himself. “That’s our problem,” says a farmer from Enbek in southeastern Kazakhstan, squinting through the late summer haze at the distant mountain peaks and furrowing his brow. "Even 20 years ago these mountains were covered with glaciers. Now I can hardly see them." Farmers in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan are worried these days. For generations, they relied on the glacial meltwater of the Tien Shan, known as the "water tower of Central Asia," to irrigate their fields and drink. Now they all say the same thing: there is not enough water. "Because of climate change, these waters are no longer as abundant as they were several decades ago," says Alan Humphreys, an alfalfa breeder at the South Australian Research and Development Institute ...