Estidamah Shares Insights on Different Greenhouse Technology Levels in the 5th GFIA-2018

^{Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 5 -6 February 2018}

Estidamah participated in the 5^th Global Forum for Innovation in Agriculture (GFIA Abu Dhabi 2018), under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Presidential Affairs, and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority (ADFCA) from 5th to 6th February 2018, at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC), United Arab Emirates.

In the event, Estidamah shared its insights of the different levels of greenhouse technology; where Estidamah showed the findings of testing two different greenhouses; the first one was traditional while the second greenhouse was modified, yet both equipped with a pad and fan cooling system. Both greenhouses were compared in terms of productivity and water use; with special focus on water used for cooling.

The modified greenhouse design resulted in about 14% higher in fresh production weight. As well, more than 40% water saving was achieved on evaporative cooling. The climate and water use data recorded during the trial were used to validate a greenhouse climate simulation model, including pad and fan cooling.

Also, the presentation showed that the extracted air temperature had a major influence on water use for cooling. Increasing the extracted air temperature with 4 K resulted in about 27% saving in water use for cooling. Additionally, a 5 % higher cooling efficiency of the pad wall could yield an extra 12% water saving for evaporative cooling. Finally, the greenhouse cover-to-ground area ratio was also found to affect the water use for cooling. 

In brief, there is much scope for saving water used for evaporative cooling by improving the design of both greenhouses and the cooling systems, and that a good greenhouse climate model would be a useful tool in this process. The findings of the research provided clear guidelines for the construction of more water-efficient evaporatively cooled greenhouses.

The event focused on six key areas: indoor farming and hydroponics, date palm production, aquaculture, livestock and animal production, sustainable crops and beekeeping.