Biosaline agriculture centre receives funds boost

The Dubai-based International Centre for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA) has been given an injection of $13 million (Dh47.7m) in new grants. This includes $8m from the UAE Government and the Islamic Development Bank, and an approval for a further $5m from a consortium of four funds.

The centre signed an agreement two weeks ago to renew its financial support from the UAE Government and the Islamic Development Bank, both sole financiers of the centre since its inception.

They have now pledged their support once again with the $8m injection.

"Both parties will share the core budget of the centre, 60 per cent will be paid by the government and the rest by the Islamic Development Bank," said Dr Shawki Barghouti, the Director-General of the centre.

Meanwhile, the centre has attracted the attention of international movers and shakers in this new area of businesses, particularly in its quest for finding alternative salt-resistant crops, as well as for its research concerning the shortages of fresh water for agricultural and urban landscaping in the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia.

Dr Barghouti said the bodies that will put up the other $5m in grants include the International Fund for Agricultural Development in Rome, the Kuwait-based Arab Fund for Economic and Social Developments and the Opec Fund for International Development in Vienna.

Desalination
Among the projects the centre is currently involved in is one revolving around desalination management on a farm level. It is a project the centre is undertaking with the Ministry of Environment and WaterMinistry of Environment and WaterLoading....

"We have a large number of farmers in the UAE, who are using ground water for irrigation, and ground water has salt, and the salt has to be removed, but the question is how to manage this in a clean manner," said Dr Barghouti.

According to recent reports by the Japanese financial holding company Nomura, the UAE currently ranks second - regionally and internationally - after Saudi Arabia in its desalination capacity (9,046,824 cubic metres a day).?

This is in line with the UAE's vision of ambitious urban development. However, a consequence of such expansionist economic activities will be that more people are required and consumption will rise exponentially.

"So definitely water will be a major requirement for a growing population as well as economic activity. However, by increasing desalination, there is an increased investment in a technology that has environmental implications, one of them is the increased carbon dioxide footprint as more energy usage is needed," he said.

"Also, desalination requires certain investment in chemicals in order to process the water from the sea, and again, these chemicals are thrown again back in the sea ... it is all pollution."

According to Dr Barghouti, when one gallon of water is taken from the sea, only 30 per cent of it is drinkable, and the remainder, what is called the brine, has to be thrown back into the sea. This brine material only increases the sea's delicate balance of salts, therefore disrupting the whole ecosystem with major environmental implications.

"I am not against desalination because there is no other option, but it has to be done very carefully, and new technology has to be developed that produces less pollution. This is why there is a lot of talk to use the solar energy instead.

"There is also a need to design different types of desalination that reduce the impact of brine and the chemicals. It definitely needs more research, and requires more of public policy, regulations and standards, and this is what the government is trying to do," he said.

One particular problem in the UAE is the increasing number of farmers who are installing small desalination plants in order to improve the quality of the ground water for irrigation. The centre is currently studying the management of the ensuing brine, and how to stave off its contaminating, polluting effects on land and sea.

Salt crops
Dr Barghouti says the centre is also trying to develop new crops that can live on salt water, hence biosaline.

"In this regard, desalination is not required, but [farmers] can make use of crops that can tolerate the [high] levels of salt in the country's soil,"?he said, adding that several different kinds of crops were being studied.

Among these, he said, is barley, which is far more attractive as compared to wheat when planting in saline conditions. "We are also doing research for certain date palm trees that can tolerate salt. We are also developing forage crops to feed animals which can live on salt. Our scientists are working on developing vegetables and fruits which are biosaline. There are other parts of our research to developing forestries and shrubs that can also provide the green cover," he said.

Plantation experiments are being conducted on over 500 hectares of land, he said. "We are selecting some of the varieties and species which can tolerate salty water and can survive for a long time, such as 60 to 80 years."

There are about 2,500 farmers in the UAE that are benefiting from the centre's knowledge, findings and training. And across the entire Arab World, he said, there are 15,000 farmers making use of the centre's knowledge, findings, and training. In total, about 200,000 hectares of land that have benefited from the centre's development in technology when it comes to planting salt resistant crops, and better irrigation system and salt management in the soil.

Challenges
The region's dependency on food imports, according to Dr Barghouti, has thrown up a series of challenges and threats to the region's food security are serious.

"On average, the region imports are about 60-70 per cent of its basic requirement from outside, and there is no way that we are going to be able to reduce the dependency on foreign markets, especially with the decline in the water availability and quality in the same time," he said.

The region's fresh water resources have been committed to the maximum and with high water costs and desalination costs included, food import is the likely scenario that will stay. "It is better to import than produce, and the trend is going to be on the increase, for example wheat imports are much cheaper compared to wheat produced locally."

He said food security will not be managed by increased production, but rather as part of a well-managed strategy by improving food storage and trade policies. "Any other kind of attempt will be like fooling ourselves. And if they want to go to grow wheat elsewhere again, it is not going to be as cheap as it includes building infrastructure, storage facilities, silos, etc.

"Most of these arable lands ready for agriculture investment belong to poorer countries, and having trucks loaded with food stuff being sent to richer countries is not morally right, the high costs of transportation and infrastructure building notwithstanding.

He said authorities in the region should import greater amounts of foodgrains when prices are low in the international market, so as to maintain stocks in the country.

"To start growing more is a fallacy that won't be happening. It is a global issue after all, and there are only few areas in the world where the wheat and production of grains will be stable - central Europe, Russia, North America."

Looking to the challenges that lie ahead, Dr Barghouti said the past continues to affect the present, including but not limited to the quantity of water for irrigation and its deteriorating quality. Other challenges, he said, are the climate change and the randomness of rainfall.

The centre is in the process of building a knowledge base on crops that can thrive in conditions of high salinity, as well as expanding research on water management.

He said the new funds would work to benefit the countries in the region. "We have 22 countries that are members of the centre,"?he said.

Most of the research in the region so far have been done to increase crops under good or normal conditions, however IDBIDBLoading... and the UAE Government think that our region does not have easy conditions. "How to make our difficult conditions productive, that is a very challenging objective...and it is wonderful to be pioneers and innovators in this field."

By Dina Al Shibeeb

© Emirates Business 24/7 2010

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