Hydrogel Agriculture to Support Food Security in Qatar

MME01-0906-190024

Project Description

The state of Qatar suffers from extreme drought and arid climate conditions that limits the agricultural activities in the country. The country relies significantly on imported food products to cover the local market needs. Qatar’s reliance on foreign suppliers for food supply jeopardizes its long-term food security plans, economy, and social growth, which are developing rapidly. Nevertheless, Qatar has the potential to address technical food challenges by applying new technologies in farming industries. One of the major hurdles that faces the development of a sustainable farming industry in Qatar is the lack of fertile soil and freshwater. Therefore, to cope with the arid nature of Qatar and mitigate water scarcity problems, focus must be directed towards developing innovative technologies that have the capacity of reducing water usage without compromising the quality and magnitude of agricultural production. This should be achieved without adding substances of toxic nature and/or chemical fertilizers into the soil, thus keeping a natural environment for plant growth (i.e. organic). Numerous technologies and agronomic practices have been adapted and applied to boost productivity of crops. However, the most promising techniques in achieving increased water-use efficiency in agricultural applications are those that promotes soil ability to retain water. This project aims to introduce a fertile soil for greenhouse plantations that is able to withstand harsh environmental conditions. The project introduces hydrogel agriculture for greenhouse farming in Qatar. Compost soil is rich in nutrients required for the growth of plants such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. However, compost soil has low retention for water. If compost soil is to be used for agriculture in an arid climate such as Qatar, the water retention of such soils should be enhanced to maintain a low food cost. The network structure of the hydrogel can keep its swollen state for extended periods of time and slowly release water, thereby reducing the water wastage through percolation and evaporation.

Results

Laboratory and field experiments have demonstrated that hydrogel is a smart technique that could provide a water reservoir in soil that can be tapped into by plants in hot climate areas. Hydrogel helps to grow more food while using less water by mixing with the soil to capture the irrigation water near the plant; this will help the plants to grow more steadily overtime. The project utilizes the idea of sandwiching a hydrogel layer between the compost. The project outcomes have already been promising as the hydrogel agriculture resulted in a remarkable water retention compared to the traditional one. The higher water-use efficiency was reflected on the crop production magnitude as we could enhance the production by 20% while using 35% less water under the optimized process conditions.

The pilot testing of the hydrogel agriculture was held in collaboration with AGRICO farm in Qatar. AGRICO is one of the reputable farming industries located in Al-Khor, Qatar. AGRICO relies on greenhouse farming under controlled temperature and humidity conditions for the growth of vegetables. AGRICO farm is a key investigator in the project who showed support and interest in the technology by the provision of planting area, water supply, and personnel. The movement towards the actual implementation in greenhouses was immensely necessary to achieve the project’s main objective of producing a Qatari product that can enhance the plants growth using less water and resources. The technology has been successfully employed for tomato and cucumber which are positioned in the first two ranks in terms of consumption in Qatar. More vegetables including zucchini, eggplants, and lettuce are to be investigated soon.

For more information please contact:

Prof. Alaa Al Hawari

Email: a.hawari@qu.edu.qa