The only way is up as enterprising Saudi crop growers increasingly take the technological leap from traditional to vertical farming.
When Dana Enany noticed a gap in the market for local produce, she decided to explore vertical farming on her Jeddah-based holding, Jana. She told Arab News: “I was always intrigued by the farm-to-table concept, and I wanted to create this experience at hand in Saudi Arabia.”
“We will be applying water-based gel substrate to grow our crops sustainably, minimizing waste,” Enany said. The Riyadh farm will have a maximum production capacity of two tons per day or 900 tons per year. The calculation has been based on the weight of lettuces, but the farm will also grow lighter crops such as herbs, which will affect the true production capacity.
More than 120 different crops were test-grown before a final product range was settled upon. To demonstrate that crops could be grown under the toughest conditions, the project started in Jeddah, where the arid climate poses major challenges for agriculture.
In December, Mowreq signed a joint venture with YesHealth Group, a company with multiple vertical farm operations in Asia and Europe.
Read the entire article at Arab News