ABU DHABI: At the annual Global Forum for Innovations in Agriculture (GFIA), held in Abu Dhabi in February, Thani Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, the minister of climate change and environment for the UAE, said that despite being located in the middle of the world’s most arid region, innovation and investment could help Abu Dhabi and the UAE meet food security challenges.
The government has led efforts to reduce water consumption, introducing tariffs in 2016 to encourage more efficient desalinated water use and strengthening laws concerning the illegal use of groundwater, a development that requires farmers to install water meters.
An area seen as key to improving sustainability in this regard is hydroponic technology, a technique that uses a nutrient-rich solution, rather than soil, to grow crops.
The approach has been found to be up to 70% more water efficient than traditional farming methods and often allows for longer harvesting seasons, with the number of hydroponic greenhouses in the UAE increasing from 50 in 2009 to 1000 by the end of 2016.
Both the national and federal government have sought to encourage the expansion of hydroponics. Last November agri-business start-up Pure Harvest Smart Farms secured a historic $4.5bn seed investment to help fund the construction of a 3.3-ha farm with a fully climate-controlled greenhouse facility in Nahel, Abu Dhabi.
