India's barefoot water scientists

In southern India, the climate is becoming unpredictable and drought more common. Indiscriminate pumping from shallow aquifers shared by many farmers has caused abnormal drops in water levels. When a well goes dry, a farmer loses his crop. Six thousand farmers have been trained in groundwater management by a project run by Indian NGOs and guided by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization. They have learned to monitor how much water is available underground at the start of the growing season. Then they only plant crops that need that much water.