Al Ain Farm Tackles Food and Water Security by Pairing Fish with Watermelons

Published on by in Business

Al Ain Farm Tackles Food and Water Security by Pairing Fish with Watermelons

One farmer uses odd connections to cut water use and greatly raise yields in an experimental approach to reducing its affect on the environment. 

By Naser Al Wasmi

XxrXLzA.jpg

Representative image, Source: Pixabay

The red sands of Al Ain’s sun-scorched desert have become the environment for a bizarre, symbiotic relationship between fish and watermelons.

Using integrated farming techniques, Abdulrahman Al Shamsi is growing both while using a tenth of the water and producing up to three times the yield of conventional farms.

The method has gained momentum over the past decade in the horticultural world. At its core, integrated farms try to identify and align the nutritional demands and by-products of farmable organisms.

In the case of watermelons, the fruit grows best when fertilised with nitrogen and nitrates that are the waste from, and often the environmental argument against, fish ­farming.

The technique has allowed the Emirati to improve his yield of goods by up to 300 per cent and reduce his water use by 90 per cent.

While leaving a small carbon footprint, Mr Al Shamsi also provides nutritious food that few traditional desert farms produce – fish.

Integrated farming is a delicate chemical balance. In some cases, it allows farmers to make use of what would otherwise be an environmental hazard, but in others the fit is extremely fruitful.

“Three times as much from date palms, just by using the wastewater from the fish farm,” Mr Al Shamsi says. “With dates, we can have three seasons of fruit.”

His technological innovation, which has prompted his peers to change their farming methods, is not limited to odd connections. Simple innovations have also yielded great results.

On his farm in Al Wagan there are no greenhouses, which have become an energy-­intensive but common method of desert farming.

Read full article: The National UAE

Media

Taxonomy