Abu Dhabi, 19 January 2017
Being part of its efforts to achieve agricultural sustainability in Abu Dhabi emirate, Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority has launched several initiatives and introduced solutions aiming to tackle the challenges seen in the agriculture sector especially those related with water sustainability and renewable energy.
In the way towards achieving its strategic goals in the mission to create a sustainable agriculture sector and to guarantee safe food to all, it has put much effort to study and implement latest technologies and smart applications compatible to encounter with the adverse climate characterized with scarcity of water and energy resources. It includes the introduction of new alternatives to conventional energy use such as solar energy in the agriculture scene.
The authority has involved in a research project with regards to a groundwater well desalination unit, intended for irrigation which works with the reverse osmosis techniques and with the support of solar energy. The project which was started as a collaborative effort with Nordic Innovations is aiming to maximize use of the highly-saline water of Abu Dhabi in addition to encourage farmers to diversify their cultivations with crops that guarantee better financial returns. This technological experiment has also proved to be cost-cutting in the process of treating saline water because it relies upon solar energy, not the conventional energy, which is expensive.
To rationalize the water use in the irrigation, which is a must to sustain the resources, ADFCA started a research project by which smart irrigation techniques were implemented in Abu Dhabi farms. This smart systems were operated by solar energy and worked using wireless satellite sensors. The water was automatically and rationally irrigated according to the climate need and the requirements of the corps cultivated, which brought in big changes in the way Abu Dhabi farmers use water and grow their food.
Coming to the honey sector, Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority has carried out studies on how to introduce renewable energy to the sector and reap the benefits with giving focus on the sustainability of resources. To a great extent it replaced the optical traps used in honey keeping and instead, introduced solar traps which saved the electricity and cost of operations.
Now, the authority has joined hands with Abu Dhabi Farmers Service Center to carry out researches on how to use renewable energy in the operation of cooling and irrigation systems used in the green houses which will become a catalyst in changing the situations of greenhouses in the country and in expanding the sector more.
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© Press Release 2017
