Sea Water and Sunlight to Grow Food
Indian agriculture and India’s food production is highly susceptible to climate change largely because the sector continues to be highly sensitive to monsoon variability. About 65 percent of India’s cropped area is rain-fed. The impact of climate change on water availability is particularly severe for India because large parts of the country already suffer from water scarcity and largely depend on groundwater for irrigation. The main problem of Indian agriculture is low productivity and total factor productivity (TFP). To meet India’s growing food demand and nutritional security, there is an urgent need for increasing productivity and reduction of wastage in all segments of agriculture. However given the vulnerability of Indian agriculture to climate change, farm practices need to be reoriented to provide better climate resilience.
In order to solve India’s problem and even the worlds, a London based start-up (Seawater Greenhouse) has developed a ground-breaking greenhouse system that could address the two critical challenges in farming – water constraint and productivity.
The technology used by Seawater Greenhouse uses two infinite resources – Seawater and Sunlight to produce more crop even under harsh climatic conditions.
As reported in Seawater Greenhouse website – the innovation utilises the cooling and humidifying power of water vapour produced from evaporating salt water. The combined effect of reducing temperature and increasing humidity, together with providing a protected environment for crops, results in up to 90% reduction in evapotranspiration. By rehydrating the landscape using water vapour derived from seawater, the technology creates a humid microclimate that promotes plant growth both inside and outside the greenhouse. As a result operating costs are lower, yields increase, and farmers can benefit from year-round production of high-value horticultural produce.
The technology is under deployment and experimentation in Australia, Abu Dhabi, Oman, Tenerife and Somaliland. Let’s hope the technology scales up and is soon introduced in India.
Image Source: Seawater Greenhouse