Emirati entrepreneur Abdulrahman Al Shamsi has been championing innovative ways to produce food locally since 1996. His farm – a luscious patch of green amid the red dunes of the desert – is a testament to his resilience and hard work.
The farm in Al Ain's Al Araad region spans 160,000 square metres and grows produce including dates, pomegranates, courgettes, watermelons, lemons, cabbage and mangoes.
In a year, his farm produces 150 tonnes of fruit and vegetables, and 50 tonnes of tilapia fish, and they make their way to the local supermarkets.
His farm is self-sufficient, with the food for the fish and the livestock grown on the farm, and water from the fish pools used to irrigate the crops. The ammonia-rich fish waste is used as fertiliser, while plastic coverings on the soil help to conserve moisture.
Mr Al Shamsi says the aquaculture approach has helped increase crop yields by three times while conserving water resources by 90 per cent.
With the UAE importing more than 80 per cent of food, the 54-year-old's farm shows innovative systems that can fight the challenges of the desert terrain.
Mr Al Shamsi, who was honoured with the Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Agricultural Excellence Award for sustainable innovation, says many people visit his farm to “learn about his methods” with “more than 40 farms using his techniques”. “The government also helps a lot,” Mr Al Shamsi says.
“It's not just the UAE, most desert regions around the world are facing similar challenges,” he says while giving The National a tour of his farm, adding that his “unique and sustainable system” could prove a game changer. “At a low cost, I've been able to produce high quality and quantity produce."
Harnessing the power of microbes
Mr Al Shamsi also cultivates active bacteria on the farm to “enhance the quality of water” in the fish pools.
“Bacteria in the fish pools convert ammonia to nitrates, which become nutrients for plants,” he explains, adding how he cut production costs by choosing to produce active bacteria from inactive ones.
“If I buy active bacteria, it will cost me Dh60,000 a month. So instead, I buy inactive bacteria for Dh1,500 a month and I make it active in 15 days,” he says. A few blue cylindrical containers are set up in an air-conditioned room on the farm to do the job.
Each of the 12 fish pools has 40,000 to 50,000 tilapia. When fish grow to market size, they are sold for Dh12 a kilogram, he adds.
‘Lamborghini’ of poultry
The farm also breeds one of the most expensive chicken breeds, popularly known as “Lamborghini chicken”.
These birds have jet-black feathers and are originally from Indonesia. The “rare breed” can reportedly fetch thousands in US dollars, but Mr Al Shamsi sells each chicken for Dh300 and each egg for Dh50.
“I can afford to sell them for less because I've reduced the operating costs, with my farm equipped to produce 2,000 chickens a month,” he says, adding there's a special enclosure and an incubation machine exclusively for them. Currently, the farm produces about 1,000 Lamborghini chickens each month.
“The operating cost for my farm is Dh25,000 to Dh30,000 per month,” he adds, highlighting how his sustainable techniques go a long way in keeping the costs low.
The farm is self-sufficient. “The fish feed on aquatic ferns called azolla and the livestock feed on alfalfa crops. These are grown on the farm. Meanwhile, waste from the fish and poultry are used to make compost for the plants,” Mr Al Shamsi explains.
He has even cut manpower on the farm to eight, using modern tech wherever he can. The workers mainly help with harvesting crops and transporting waste and compost.
The farm is also home to livestock such as Boer, a South African breed of goat, and Najdi, a breed of domestic sheep primarily raised in Saudi Arabia.
New Abu Dhabi project
Recently, the Abu Dhabi Environment Agency launched the first sea cages aquaculture project in the emirate to meet the increasing demand for seafood. The project, south-east of Delma Island within Al Dhafra Region, aims to conduct scientific studies on culturing local fish species using floating aquaculture cage systems.
The project consists of six floating sea cages, capable of producing 100 tonnes of fish a year.
It will use artificial intelligence for data collection and advanced monitoring, and utilise environmental sensors to monitor marine water quality parameters, including temperature, pH, salinity, dissolved oxygen, turbidity and ammonia levels. It will also feature underwater and surface cameras to track fish behaviour and a smart gateway for data transmission, powered by solar panels.
