The high cost of ground water depletion

Liwa farmer has to dig deeper bore wells and spend extra money on desalination

Published: 00:00 May 1, 2010

Mohammad Saeed Al Hameli, a prominent Emirati farmer in Liwa at his farm which produces about 250 tonnes of vegetables per month during the season.


Liwa: He deepened his bore well in his farm by 200 feet during the past 18 years, in search of water which has already turned saline.

"No regular rain here…so the ground water is depleting and getting saline," said Mohammad Saeed Al Hameli, 40, a prominent Emirati farmer in Liwa in Al Gharbia (formerly western region) when Gulf News visited his farm recently. The farm produces 250 tonnes of vegetables every month during the season.

The situation has prompted him to establish two desalination plants and introduce water saving farming techniques in the farm.

Al Hameli first dug a 100 feet deep bore well in 1992 which was further deepened into 140 feet in 2000 and 300 feet in 2009.

"But, I have to say the situation is better here, some of my friends in Al Ain told me they dug 1,000 feet deep bore well," he said.

Environment Agency-Abu Dhabi (EAD) had warned recently that emirate's ground water will be fully depleted within 50 years, if the water consumption was not controlled. EAD has drawn a water resources management project to protect the ground water resources. .

The agricultural season begins in October and ends by March. "During the summer the produce goes down by 40 per cent," he said.

Variety of vegetables

Various varieties of vegetables such as tomato, cabbage, cauliflower, pumpkin, capsicum and cucumber are grown in 310 greenhouses with 75 employees.

In 2004, Al Hameli found the water from the bore well was saline, so he made two desalination plants costing around Dh150,000. "That's an additional expense farmers have to incur for pure water; Dh 2,000 is the monthly operational costs of a plant," he said.

The salinity goes up due to lack of rain , he says.

"In 2004, the salinity was 4,000 ppm (parts per million) which was doubled to 8,000 ppm in 2009."

He said due to these extra expenses he doesn't find farming profitable. "Still I continue it for the passion… It may give returns any time in [the] future," said Al Hameli who started farming in 1992.

A graduate in administration from HCT (Higher Colleges of Technology) and an employee with an Abu Dhabi government organisation, he sees farming as a passion.

That passion takes him into international agricultural exhibitions.

Al Hameli visited such an exhibition in China recently.

"Considering the shortage of fresh water, water- saving farming techniques like hydroponics are the only solution," he says. That realisation took him to an exhibition in Singapore which showcased soil-less farming techniques.

"I learnt about hydroponics [the cultivation of plants in a nutrient liquid with or without gravel or another supporting medium] from there and introduced its two versions — pond hydroponics and ‘A' shaped hydroponics — in the farm one and half years ago," he said.

The system saves at least 80 per cent of the water used for irrigation.

He has set aside 40 greenhouses for hydroponics. The rest of the 270 greenhouses work on drip irrigation system. "I read a lot of books and material on [the] internet to enhance [my] water-saving technique," he said.

Al Hameli feels a sense of fulfilment when he sees fully grown vegetables in different colours and sizes.

"The farm produces around two tonnes of capsicum per month, in seven colours," he said.

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