(July 14, 2015) Greenhouses
that will use seawater to grow crops in one of the hottest and driest places on
earth will be designed by researchers at Aston University working with industry
partners as part of an international project.
The installations are to be erected in specially selected
sites across the Horn of Africa, a region where temperatures regularly breach
40°C, water is scarce and food insecurity is very high. Due to the climate,
conventional agriculture has been severely marginalised and the situation is
worsening.
The project aims to overcome the region’s inhospitable
conditions to help farmers drastically increase their crop yields, providing
them with a consistent, sustainable income. Currently in Somalia, only 1.5% of
the country’s land is cultivated and average annual crop yields per hectare are
just 0.5 tons – compared to 700 tons per hectare in commercial greenhouses.
The productivity and quality of crops cultivated in
greenhouses is typically much improved upon traditional open field cultivation
and the use of water and nutrients is much more economical. Once installed, the
innovative greenhouses will pump seawater from the sea using solar energy and
convert it into freshwater for irrigation via the desalination process. The
remaining seawater will be brought into contact with the air inside the
low-cost net structures of the greenhouses, creating a cool and humid breeze to
reduce plant transpiration. Salt extracted from the seawater will be utilised
in cooking and preserving food.