Tuesday, 26 March 2013

Hydroponics: getting more for less without soil


Recently, many farmers in Abu Dhabi have been switching to different kind of growing methods which includes using hydroponics that help produce more foods with less time, water and energy. Some still don’t value this change as it can cost a large amount of money depending on how big the farm is. Moreover, the procedure of training workers for a different technique than the traditional way they are used to, may take a lot of time and effort at the beginning. Therefore, they are given cash loans by the Khalifa Fund to encourage and help them through the process of converting. The idea of this system actually comes from Holland where they grow their fruit and vegetables without the use of soil. Hydroponics replaces the soil with a combination of other things such as sand, perlite and peat to help reuse and recycle water. This also supports the farmers to be able to grow much larger amounts of different kinds of foods in their greenhouses during all different seasons. In addition, hydroponics can be used in the open field as well so it may cost money in the beginning but it saves and produces a lot more at the end once everything is installed.

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