Farmers in the UAE

Farmers in the UAE

 This is hydroponics inside a greenhouse, an agriculture system without soil. It gives at least 30 per cent more productivity and saves up to 40 per cent of water compared to conventional agriculture. Hydroponics is a method of growing plants using mineral nutrient solutions in water, without soil.  Most of the plant nutrients are supplied by the nutrient solution, rather than by the media in which the plants are grown. The ADFSC expects to produce more vegetables using hydroponics in Abu Dhabi farms, said Dr Robert Caudwell, technical development section manager at the Centre. The UAE farms produce vegetables and fruit mostly during winter. Productivity goes down considerably during summer. The new system is expected to change that and may ensure the presence of local vegetables and fruit throughout the year. The irrigation system includes a desalination plant too, which highlights the problem of growing salinity in ground water. The comparatively less amount of water used for irrigation in open hydroponics farms is further recycled and used in the openfield farm.  In the closed hydroponic systems under construction at Emiratis' farms, rock wool is the medium. In this system, most of the plant nutrients are supplied by the nutrient solution, rather than by the media in which the plants are grown. In the closed hydroponics system the same nutrient solution is re-circulated and the nutrient concentrations are monitored and adjusted accordingly. Farmers in Al Gharbia who have slowly been converting to hydroponics - which allows them to grow fruit and vegetables using less water and energy - are now being offered loans to help them make the switch. This technology uses 80 per cent less water, fewers pesticides and less fertilizer than traditional farming. It's better because it's a more controlled system. But the system can be complicated to understand for farmers used to traditional methods.