The capacity of the UAE’s Treated Sewage Effluent (TSE) has been identified as a key enhancer of the nation’s food and water security, according to a virtual workshop, with the activity outlining a specialist research project that is being conducted in the country.
The project is carried out by four entities including the UAE-based International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA), International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), the United Arab Emirates University (UAEU), and the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO).
The science project focuses on evaluating how the country’s growing landscape of advanced farming within protected agriculture systems initiatives such as indoor greenhouses and vertical farms can benefit from using TSE and biosolids, much of which is currently wasted.
UAE’s Minister of State for Food Security, Ms. Mariam Hareb Almheiri, attending the virtual workshop, said that this is a significant step forward in evaluating the novel methods in a multidisciplinary approach to enhance food security by adopting research, development, and scientific evidence-based approach to develop government policies.
Mariam Hareb Al Mheiri Minister of State for Food Security UAE
“The UAE’s annual water demand amounts to around 5 billion cubic meters, with Treated Sewage Effluent accounting for about 11 percent of this demand. We produce around 735 million cubic meters of TSE each year, but more than a quarter of this resource is either lost or discharged into the sea. This is a tremendous waste, as TSE is rich in nutrients, making it an ideal medium to support crop growth.”
The UAE has one of the highest per capita water usage rates in the world. When compared to the household and industrial sectors, the agricultural sector consumes the largest share of the UAE’s water demand, accounting for around 83 percent of overall water demand.
Enhancing Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) is one way through which the UAE is reducing its water consumption, as it enables crop growing using up to 95 percent less water than traditional agricultural methods. CEA is a key component of the UAE’s National Food Security Strategy 2051, which intends to improve the country’s ability to produce food sustainably using technology.
Now, the UAE has a dynamic, thriving, and modern agriculture sector as a result of the National Food Security Strategy’s initiatives, with the Food Tech Valley being the most recent addition. Launched earlier this year, the food hub aims to double the UAE’s food production by adopting and implementing advanced technology across the food value chain.
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