Under the patronage of H.E. Dr. Rashid Ahmad Bin Fahad, Minister of Environment and Water, and H.E. Humaid Al Qatami, Minister of Education, the ‘Our Generations Plant’ initiative was launched today (Thursday February 6, 2014) in Dubai. The initiative aims to encourage social initiatives, reinforce the spirit of initiative in growing generations and support their relation to agriculture and the preservation of water resources.
The initiative seeks to raise the awareness on the significance of adopting modern techniques in farming and high efficiency methods in irrigation, especially, hydroponic culture techniques and entering them into the agricultural system as a farming method. The method replaces soil with other mediums such as volcanic soil or perlite with liquid fertilizing. Hydroponic culture has the a high efficiency advantage of reducing the water used to irrigate vegetable crops--with a saving percentage of up to 70 per cent depending on the crops, compared to water used in regular farming. It also has an advantage in using fertilizers, as well as drive in an increase in production due to improved growth of plants.
H.E Bin Fahad stated: "The initiative aims at approaching growing generations in schools and kindergartens and raise their awareness on ecological culture, support their connection to agriculture, preserve water resources and educate them on modern technological practices in agriculture, which paves the way for larger agricultural production and lower consumption of water and natural resources. We have adopted the hydroponic culture technique and transported it to farmers in the UAE. This is realized by providing tangible support to establish hydroponic culture systems and production necessities in half the price, which will increase the farmers' attention in this technique, which resulted in the recent years in an increase in areas and number of houses farmed without soil."
“We have launched "Our Generations Farm" initiative in collaboration with our partners in the Ministry of Education and the private sector, and in synchronization with the UAE’s celebration for the 17th National Environment Day under the slogan of ‘Green Economy: Innovation and Sustainability’,” added Bin Fahad.
The initiative will be implemented in the following stages to include governmental bodies and authorities in the UAE to achieve the goal of the initiative.
H.E Humaid Mohammed Al Qatami, Minister of Education, stated that the Ministry highly appreciates the strategic partnership with the Ministry of Environment and Water. H.E Al Qatami referred to the initiatives, which the Ministry of Environment and Water aims to implement in schools in particular, and its objectives, including educating students with the value of preserving the UAE resources, reserving its sources and nature, and securing its environment and its affiliated natural resources.
H.E Al Qatami noted that the hydroponic culture project represents an innovative idea that goes hand in hand with the ministry's objectives for improving and developing school environment and transforming schools into environmentally-friendly institutions.
H.E Al Qatami praised the important role of the Ministry of Environment and Water and its careful attention to achieve ecologic balance in the UAE, as well as improving social awareness of ecologic issues and challenges facing any community now.
Hydroponic culture is considered one of the most conforming and compatible systems with UAE environment. It is applicable on all the lands, regardless of their area. Its components, tools and the quality of its agricultural mediums are manageable as per types of crops, which contribute in providing latest techniques and systems in sustainable agriculture, increasing both volume and quality of production, achieving self-sustainability, as well as other benefits, for it is a major income source and contribute in paving the way to sustainable farming.
In order to spread the concepts of integrated production management and protection in reserved houses, proper practices and encouraging hydroponic culture, the ministry has worked on implementing activities and initiatives to develop this important sector in agriculture, as it represents the future of agricultural production in the UAE. The ministry has implemented a comprehensive training program during last year, to train farmers, engineers and farming advisors on the basics of hydroponic culture and methods of applying it.
The ministry continues its efforts to support high-tech agricultural practices in cooperation with local authorities and the private sector. The ministry has also been providing advisory and technical services in all aspects related to the farmers' needs for hydroponic culture in their farms, according to their area of work. The Ministry of Environment and Water has also conducted proper solutions for problems hindering the farmer, quickly and properly. Advisory service and technical support are being implemented through technical personnel, specialized in hydroponic culture.