Abu Dhabi seeks to reduce usage of water, fertilizers

The Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority (ADFCA) has targeted the reduction in water consumption by 40 per cent and use of fertilizers by 25 per cent in the agriculture sector of the emirate by the end of 2013, Mubarak Ali Al Qusaili Al Mansouri, Executive Director, Agriculture Affairs, ADFCA said. The agriculture-related policies, strategies and plans of the ADFCA, aim to achieve environmental sustainability and help promote the emirate-wide development and encourage farmers.

Mansouri said: “We are keen to help farmers to have better income by producing crops that are commercially more beneficial and use new ways to decrease the consumption of water in the emirate.”

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ADFCA issued early in September a decision to stop the promotion of Rhodes grass (cultivated in dry regions) marketing in the Western Region. This decision was based on thorough studies and recent findings which show that this product consumes almost 93 billion gallons of Abu Dhabi's waters annually, Mansouri said.

According to records, the total number of farms in Abu Dhabi Emirate is 23,682, in which 2,820 farms are not utilised, while 95 per cent of farming depends on groundwater.

ADFCA launched a campaign recently to educate farmers to reduce the use of water consumption. This will continue for two years. Rhodes production consumes about 60 per cent of the irrigation water and the Western Region produces about 29 per cent of Rhodes grass in the emirate.

Stopping of Rhodes grass in Western Region will reduce about 17.5 per cent of irrigation water consumption in the emirate. Khalifa Ahmed Khalfan Al Ali, Executive Director, Strategic Planning and Performance Management, said: “ADFCA's strategy is based on three key factors: to keep supporting farmers and encouraging them to move towards more revenue-generating products, economically, by increasing the industry's participation in Abu Dhabi's GDP and promote home-grown crops that can better compete internationally, and environmentally by achieving agricultural sustainability.”

The farmers will be granted Dh90,000 annually as financial subsidies under the new regulations of the Executive Council.

Detailing the conditions of the new Law, Ali said: “The new regulation provides financial subsidies for farmers who commit to a set of conditions that include the stopping of Rhodes cultivation, getting a Farmers Services Centre (FSC) membership, signing a date service contract with FSC, as well as commitment not to use the farm and its resources for commercial purposes.

In addition, the farmers will have other mandatory conditions.

anwar@khaleejtimes.com