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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: 2) by VLM on Thursday August 20 2020, @03:23PM
What species?
There's bulk calorie grain production, and then there's basil. I hydroponic grew basil and winter lettuce as an experiment for a couple years. Its labor intensive but survivable for amazing homemade pesto or world freshest salad in winter. I don't think it would work for bulk rice grain production in that the sheer labor calories in vs out is probably a net negative.