Hydroponic farming is a method of cultivating plants without soil, where natural soil is replaced with water-based or solid mediums such as rock wool, perlite, or coconut coir, supplemented with nutrients in the form of a nutrient solution. Through this technique, water and nutrient quantities, as well as environmental conditions, are controlled to be suitable for growth, aiming to achieve maximum yield and provide greater water savings in irrigation while maintaining a clean environment free from any pollutants
Hydroponic farming stands out for overcoming the problems encountered in traditional agriculture, such as water scarcity and insufficient available agricultural land
Hydroponic farming techniques vary among six methods and different technologies, including: Film Nutrient Technique, Raft Technique, Ebb & Flow Technique, Drip Technique, Aeroponic Technique, and Wick Technique. There are also many other systems that are either derived from or a combination of these six basic methods. It's worth mentioning that oxygen supply in hydroponic farming occurs in the root zone, either through water or air
The Aeroponic farming technique has been adopted vertically in this project. Vertical farming is a method of growing crops in vertically stacked layers. This technique involves suspending plants individually in the air without soil. It is characterized by its ease of use and crop harvesting. It relies on spraying the plant roots with nutrient solutions directly, without any medium or soil, thus providing the best environment for oxygen and moisture. This creates more balanced conditions for nutrient uptake. Additionally, plants grow and develop rapidly in this environment. Tomatoes, strawberries, lettuce, leafy greens, and herbs are examples of plants that can be cultivated using this technique
Mama Farm for Sustainable Agriculture is a small urban farm located in Jumeirah One neighborhood in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It was established by Dr. Sultana Othman in the summer of 2019. Experimental work on the farm began in the fall of 2020, and production for self-sufficiency started at the beginning of 2021. By the beginning of 2022, we had an abundance of products, enough to meet our own needs and for sale to the residents of the neighborhood.
About us
The farm is situated on a plot of land measuring 922.81 square meters, which includes two agricultural buildings with a total area of 377 square meters. Vegetables, fruits, leafy greens, and seedlings are cultivated using soilless farming techniques, aiming to minimize water usage in agriculture to the greatest extent possible, preserve a pollution-free environment, add a beautiful rural spot to the neighborhood, and provide locally grown fresh fruits and vegetables marketed and sold to the residents of the surrounding community using clean and sustainable production methods
The project owns 110 units of multi-purpose vertical farming modules, with a production capacity of 3,960 seedlings, as well as 20 units of vertical farming modules for leafy greens with a production capacity of 2,880 seedlings. This means that the total number of seedlings that can be produced in the greenhouse units in this project is 6,840 seedlings in an area of 377 square meters, divided between two agricultural buildings, the first with an area of 225 square meters and the second with an area of 152 square meters. Our production at Mama Farm for Sustainable Agriculture is equivalent to approximately half an acre in traditional farming, which is about 2,100 square meters
At the farm, hydroponic farming technique is employed, where the interest in utilizing this technique in agriculture has rapidly evolved over the past twenty years, as its economic feasibility became evident, especially in cultivating vegetables, cut flowers, leafy greens, and some fruit products. The areas utilizing this technique have been doubling annually, leading it to represent the future of agriculture in the coming years
