Agricultural exhibition will show farms how to go green

A new awareness campaign by the Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority aims to reduce energy, water and money for farmers.

The island of Delma, located off the coast of the UAE in the Western Region, is undergoing a transition where tradition is beginning to meet modern life. A crop of cucumbers in a greenhouse undergoes inspection. Agriculture is another of Delma's major industries.Show less

ABU DHABI // Farmers will be encouraged to switch to wind and solar energy as part of a drive by agriculture officials.

Next week's Agricultural Exhibition, run by the Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority, will give scores of companies the chance to persuade farmers that their technologies will save money and resources.

"Our ambition is that renewable energy techniques ... become common practice in all farms across the emirate," said Mubarak Al Mansouri, the authority's director of agriculture.

"Renewable energy can be used in many different ways on a farm, like in light traps to kill pests, atmospheric water generators in greenhouses and in machines used to grind the farm's waste."

Mohamed Jalal Al Reyaysa, the authority's communications director, said the exhibition would be "extremely useful" for farmers.

Last April, the emirate's clean energy company, Masdar, announced plans for a Dh734.6 million wind farm near the Saudi Arabian border, a first for the region.

A month later, the Farmers' Services Centre launched G-Earth, a one-year programme to provide water for greenhouses from humidity in the air, and electricity from solar panels. It has yet to be put in place.

"Abu Dhabi is leading in the field of renewable energy and we'd like to implement it on our farms," said Mr Reyaysa. "It would help save a lot of energy and achieve a state-of-the-art [farming system]."