Dear MEL Topic Readers
How to use seawater to grow food in the desert
The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is a sovereign Arab state in Western Asia, on the East Bank of the Jordan River. Though it has the Dead Sea on its western borders and a small shoreline on the Red Sea, the country is landlocked. Very hot and dry. In fact, it is the second most water scarce nation in the world with only less than one-sixtieth of water that the US has per person. Obviously, it is not suitable land for farming. Thus, as much as 98% of the nation’s import is food. In the meantime, what they have is heat and sunshine. With 330 sunny days a year, the land gets enough energy to run an air conditioner per square meter. If they could make use of these inherently available natural and clean resources to farm the desert, they would be able to produce food and create jobs while reducing import.
How could they provide fresh water, food and renewable energy in such a hot and dry region while vegetating areas of such an uninhabited desert? The Sahara Forest Project is working on this challenge.
Enjoy reading and learn how to turn a dry desert into a clean, green farm.
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20180822-this-jordan-greenhouse-uses-solar-power-to-grow-crops
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