A Dubai farm is at the centre of a project which it says could save a trillion litres of water a year in the UAE.
This equates to roughly the amount used by half the emirate's population.
Tests have been conducted since 2019 at the Al Awir date farm – on the outskirts of the city – which has more than 1,260 date palm trees.
The farm has teamed up with an agritech company, Terraplus Solutions, to implement an underground watering system that reduces the amount of water lost through traditional irrigation methods, which can be as high as 30 per cent.
“We are creating a solution to the issue of how much water is used each year by the agriculture sector,” said Nicolas Bruylants, co-founder of Terraplus Solutions.
“This is a sector that uses 70 per cent of all potable water each year globally.
“We are doing this because we believe each of us has a duty to give back to the world we live in.”
The company estimates that its underground system saved, on average, 40,000 to 50,000 litres of water per tree every year.
This represents a saving of 60 per cent compared with watering the trees with the traditional above-ground methods widely used around the world.
Mr Bruylants said that the underground irrigation system means less water is lost to evaporation, a common problem when watering above the surface.
He said if the technology was installed across the country it could transform the sector, because the UAE has an estimated 20 million date palm trees.
The annual potential savings would be the equivalent of a 200-metre tank of water stretching all the way along the Sheikh Zayed Road from Abu Dhabi to Dubai, he said.
The farm, where the project is in use, is one of several owned by Al Nakhli, a government agricultural agency.
“It is important for the UAE not to put further stress on the country’s water resources,” said Al Nakhli agronomist Khalil Ur Rahman.
“We have been working on this project to see how we can save water.
“Farmers need to know we have a limited amount of water and we need to make it viable for them to use less without reducing the quality of what they produce.”
Mr Ur Rahman said he hoped the project could be introduced across Al Nakhli’s other date palm farms soon.
Before Al Awir Farm used the new system it was losing about 170 million litres of water a year.
That figure has fallen to about 86 million litres after it adopted the subsurface technology.
Terraplus’s irrigation system inserts pipes into the ground, which allows water to directly find the roots of the tree.
Mr Ur Rahman said another benefit of the new technology is that it has resulted in a 10 per cent increase in the amount of crop each tree produces.
Patrick Stevens, co-founder of Terraplus Solutions, said his company’s invention meant the amount of water lost to evaporation was greatly reduced.
“When we go below the surface there is less water lost to irrigation. When you are irrigating above the surface a lot of water is lost and the roots become shorter,” he said.
“With our system, the roots can actually grow about 60 per cent to 70 per cent.”
The candidates
Dr Ayham Ammora, scientist and business executive
Ali Azeem, business leader
Tony Booth, professor of education
Lord Browne, former BP chief executive
Dr Mohamed El-Erian, economist
Professor Wyn Evans, astrophysicist
Dr Mark Mann, scientist
Gina MIller, anti-Brexit campaigner
Lord Smith, former Cabinet minister
Sandi Toksvig, broadcaster
What is the FNC?
The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning.
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval.
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
Results
4pm: Al Bastakiya – Listed (TB) $150,000 (Dirt) 1,900m; Winner: Panadol, Mickael Barzalona (jockey), Salem bin Ghadayer (trainer)
4.35pm: Dubai City Of Gold – Group 2 (TB) $228,000 (Turf) 2,410m; Winner: Walton Street, William Buick, Charlie Appleby
5.10pm: Mahab Al Shimaal – Group 3 (TB) $228,000 (D) 1,200m; Winner: Canvassed, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson
5.45pm: Burj Nahaar – Group 3 (TB) $228,000 (D) 1,600m; Winner: Midnight Sands, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson
6.20pm: Jebel Hatta – Group 1 (TB) $260,000 (T) 1,800m; Winner: Lord Glitters, Daniel Tudhope, David O’Meara
6.55pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 – Group 1 (TB) $390,000 (D) 2,000m; Winner: Salute The Soldier, Adrie de Vries, Fawzi Nass
7.30pm: Nad Al Sheba – Group 3 (TB) $228,000 (T) 1,200m; Winner: Final Song, Frankie Dettori, Saeed bin Suroor
The Outsider
Stephen King, Penguin
The specs
A4 35 TFSI
Engine: 2.0-litre, four-cylinder
Transmission: seven-speed S-tronic automatic
Power: 150bhp
Torque: 270Nm
Price: Dh150,000 (estimate)
On sale: First Q 2020
A4 S4 TDI
Engine: 3.0-litre V6 turbo diesel
Transmission: eight-speed PDK automatic
Power: 350bhp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: Dh165,000 (estimate)
On sale: First Q 2020
It's up to you to go green
Nils El Accad, chief executive and owner of Organic Foods and Café, says going green is about “lifestyle and attitude” rather than a “money change”; people need to plan ahead to fill water bottles in advance and take their own bags to the supermarket, he says.
“People always want someone else to do the work; it doesn’t work like that,” he adds. “The first step: you have to consciously make that decision and change.”
When he gets a takeaway, says Mr El Accad, he takes his own glass jars instead of accepting disposable aluminium containers, paper napkins and plastic tubs, cutlery and bags from restaurants.
He also plants his own crops and herbs at home and at the Sheikh Zayed store, from basil and rosemary to beans, squashes and papayas. “If you’re going to water anything, better it be tomatoes and cucumbers, something edible, than grass,” he says.
“All this throwaway plastic - cups, bottles, forks - has to go first,” says Mr El Accad, who has banned all disposable straws, whether plastic or even paper, from the café chain.
One of the latest changes he has implemented at his stores is to offer refills of liquid laundry detergent, to save plastic. The two brands Organic Foods stocks, Organic Larder and Sonnett, are both “triple-certified - you could eat the product”.
The Organic Larder detergent will soon be delivered in 200-litre metal oil drums before being decanted into 20-litre containers in-store.
Customers can refill their bottles at least 30 times before they start to degrade, he says. Organic Larder costs Dh35.75 for one litre and Dh62 for 2.75 litres and refills will cost 15 to 20 per cent less, Mr El Accad says.
But while there are savings to be had, going green tends to come with upfront costs and extra work and planning. Are we ready to refill bottles rather than throw them away? “You have to change,” says Mr El Accad. “I can only make it available.”
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Most sought after workplace benefits in the UAE
- Flexible work arrangements
- Pension support
- Mental well-being assistance
- Insurance coverage for optical, dental, alternative medicine, cancer screening
- Financial well-being incentives
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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