UAE will need new food production techniques to make up for lack of rainfall

New irrigation techniques have allowed the country to save around 60 per cent of water compared to the old applied methods.

ABU DHABI // With an average annual rainfall of 120 millimetres, new techniques for producing food with less water will have to be introduced in the UAE to cater for its growing population, experts have said.

According to a study by UAE University, new irrigation techniques such as surface and sprinkler have allowed the country to save around 60 per cent of water compared to the old applied methods, such as flood, furrow and aflaj.

“Water-intensive crop production has to cease,” said consultant Nicholas Lodge. “Only technologies for minimal water uses should be adopted and encouraged, as is the case in certain other arid countries.”

The FAO is also working with the Ministry of Environment and Water to ensure the security of water, food and energy.

“This includes protected agriculture,” said Ad Spijkers. “And the introduction of new generation greenhouses and other measures such as climate-smart agriculture, water-efficient crops and the use of treated wastewater for agriculture.”

The study also suggested looking at crops that can tolerate high temperatures to guarantee sustainability.

It mentioned using nuclear and solar energy as sustainable resources to power seawater desalination.

“Positive results of studies could open the doors for new significant resources for irrigating the green sector of the UAE,” it read.

Mr Lodge agreed.

“The UAE is blessed with significant capital reserves and ample solar energy,” he said. “These should be deployed carefully to create sustainable solutions.”

Mr Spijkers said that although the UAE was very food secure, security based solely on domestic production was impossible.

“Food security entails four dimensions,” he said. “Availability, which is production and trade; accessibility - physical and economic; use; nutritional and safe food – and stability of all these through time. The UAE is among the best-performing countries and it met [one of the] Millennium Development Goals of halving the proportion of hungry people and managed to maintain the undernourishment levels below five percent since 1990-1992.”

Mr Lodge said global trading and supply relationships remained important to provide multiple, secure and stable sources of commodities and raw materials.