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High-tech farmers sow seeds of revolution in Dubai desert:
An ultra-modern vertical farm in the middle of the desert stands as a testament to Dubai's determination to spark a "green revolution" to overcome its dependence on food imports.
Al-Badia market garden farm produces an array of vegetable crops in multi-storey format, carefully controlling light and irrigation as well as recycling 90 percent of the water it uses.
"It's a green revolution in the middle of the desert," the farm's director Basel Jammal [says].
[...] That was not an issue decades ago when the area was sparsely inhabited by Bedouins.
But the wealth generated by oil discoveries since the 1970s sent expatriates flocking to the UAE.
Dubai now has more than 3.3 million inhabitants of 200 nationalities, relies largely on expensive desalinated water, and its food needs have grown and diversified.
Will hydroponics be cheaper than importing food?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 20 2020, @04:05AM (3 children)
http://www.kylesconverter.com/area-density/bushels-per-acre-to-tonnes-per-hectare [kylesconverter.com]
Use whatever metric you like, but pick one in common use among farmers, please.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Thursday August 20 2020, @05:18AM (2 children)
Total cost per unit of food type.
Like, what's the current price for is a ton of hydroponic wheat?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 20 2020, @05:39AM (1 child)
1. What is the popularity of wheat in Dubai?
2. If wheat is liked well enough that Dubai grows it, we'll soon learn the price.
3. current wheat prices - https://markets.businessinsider.com/commodities/wheat-price?op=1 [businessinsider.com]
The real point is not the price of wheat, or any other commodity. The point seems to be independence from outside influences.
Another point might be that Dubai anticipates the world being less dependent on oil in the future. If the world needs less oil, or even no oil, prices fall, and Dubai eventually runs out of currency to trade for food. Dubai needs to transition to feeding itself, preferably before the oil market slumps, or even collapses.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Thursday August 20 2020, @06:24AM
Impossible for UAE without exports of oil (particular case of the more "energy exports"), the local conditions can't feed that many of them.
They do have sunlight and vast empty spaces, tho', so maybe they can start building something around solar/hydrogen economy before their offer on international markets become obsolete.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford