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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ibnanv" data-source="post: 21443004" data-attributes="member: 218596"><img src="http://www.khaleejtimes.com/storyimage/KT/20170410/ARTICLE/170419897/AR/0/AR-170419897.jpg&MaxW=780&imageVersion=16by9&NCS_modified=20170410192005" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />UAE residents may soon pluck vegetables from  their balconies or living room or any corner of the house and start  cooking given the rage of urban farming catching up in the emirate.  Portals have listed commonly used vegetables - cauliflower, cabbage,  celery, mint and many more - used in daily cooking being grown in homes. "100 square metre room can produce as much as  yield of one acre farm can produce," said Ravi Shrotriya, founder and  CEO Veggitech of Arabia. The company has tied up with leading brands to  test their pilot project in the emirate. "The farming technique  involves installation of its self-sufficient equipment which runs on  electricity and is controlled by sensors, reducing hassel of supervision  of the agriculture produce." <img src="http://www.khaleejtimes.com/assets/jpg/KT11368410.JPG" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> Recently Dubai SME has also intsalled an urban farming unit at its headquarters. A US headquartered Agritecture.com is strongly  pitching for the urban farming in the UAE stressing the importance to  involve the real estate companies to promote the concept of urban  farming. It is well documented that the government  bodies such as Dubai Municipality and The Ministry of Climate Change and  Environment strongly support sustainability including encouraging  developments to take part in urban farming. Dubai Silicon Oasis is leading the way with a community farm for their residents. Urban farming is being well received by  population of the UAE and there are many social media groups and blogs  bringing people together on the subject. "The UAE is developing quickly with new real  estate projects and master planned communities sprouting up. The region  should incentivise developers to make 20 per cent of all space for urban  agriculture and agtech," said Henry Gordon-Smith, founder of  Agritecture.com on sidelines of two-day event AgraME. The agriculture fair - which will conclude  tomorrow in Dubai - will address issues around water management and  greenhouse farming in the UAE. Urban farming has also been put forward as a  key solution to food security in the UAE. Some projects in urban farming  have already been implemented in Dubai, including the urban rooftop  garden at Time Oak Hotel and Suites and the Biodome Greenhouses in Dubai  Sustainable City. These have proved popular and been used to grow  fruit, vegetables and herbs.However, to truly have an impact on the  nation's food supply, urban farming needs to take place at a much  greater level and be embraced in all the city's construction projects. With the world's urban population projected to  rise by 72 per cent in the next few decades, cities around the globe  are facing numerous challenges. With noticeable climate changes and  other environmental factors adding to these challenges, cities are now  forced to find innovative solutions to become economically, socially and  environmentally sustainable. So what are benefits of urban farming? The high-tech vertical urban farms grow high volumes of vegetables using less water."The inhouse farming takes anywhere from  five-eight weeks to grow. We sell 33 varieties of vegetables and 13  varieties of herbs," said Jean-Charles Hameau, founder of Dubai-based  mygreenchapter.com.Gordon-Smith said the UAE should demonstrate  the technology through design and architecture to inspire others to  envision greener cities every day. Also, residents should be encouraged  to grow some food at home through hydroponics and small scale vertical  farming. The Middle East faces one major resource  challenge in regards to agriculture: lack of fresh water. This problem  will not be easy to solve. Agriculture uses 70 per cent of freshwater  globally and the volume of water required to feed the Middle East from  local agriculture seems unsurmountable. Incremental changes will be  needed to get the region towards food security. One technology worth continued investment is  desalinisation. This method of converting sea water to water that is  usable for agriculture is costly but remains the critical technology for  the region.Other low-tech solutions like rainwater  capture and atmospheric water generators are unlikely to have a  significant enough impact on the region's agriculture needs.  Desalinisation technology should be developed in parallel with water  saving irrigation methods including drip irrigation for outdoor crops  and hydroponics for indoor crops, informs the US entreprenuer. One of the prime reasons also cited for lack  lustre approach to agriculture is the sector is not promoted  aggressively. A recent survey into Emiratisation conducted by human  resources consultancy Mercer highlighted the lack of Emirati students  pursuing careers in certain industries, including the food and  agriculture sector. An issue seems to be perception of the sector as an  employer. In the 2015 Emirati Employment Report produced by Oxford  Strategic Consulting, 34 per cent of the UAE nationals surveyed selected  agriculture as one of their least attractive employment sectors. "There  should be training programmes for university students to learn about  agtech and how to manage them. These programs need to be promoted  heavily and encouraged through the culture. Agriculture must be seen by  current and future generations as a sustainable and profitable pursuit.  Otherwise the labour and talent force will not grow," said Gordon-Smith. The University of Wollongong in Dubai (UOWD)  was recently selected by Plantagon as their academic research partner in  Dubai. The Swedish company, known for their patented innovations in the  field of urban food production systems, and the University of  Wollongong in Dubai, with expertise on Supply Chain Management,  Marketing and Engineering science, have established a newly formed  partnership with a focus on urban agriculture related research and the  development of innovative solutions for the UAE. "Urban farming is a prerequisite for any city  claiming to be sustainable, it goes beyond producing food and connects  the necessities and security of Food, Energy and Water - what is  referred to as FEW nexus. We at Enspire are proud to be part of the  collaboration between Plantagon and the University of Wollongong in  Dubai to create a research hub here in Dubai", commented Soud Baalawy,  Board member of Plantagon Agritechture and executive chairman of  Enspire.</blockquote>

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