Alternative farming on the rise in besieged Gaza Organic Rooftop Farming Abu Nasser, 53, has grown 3,500 kilogrammes of…
Alternative farming on the rise in besieged Gaza
Organic Rooftop Farming
Abu Nasser, 53, has grown 3,500 kilogrammes of organic produce without any soil, transforming his rooftop and concrete lot in Gaza City into an organic oasis. He grows a dozen different types of vegetables and herbs for his family, including eight children and eight grandchildren.
Using hydroponic techniques, Abu Nasser can grow twice as many crops than with conventional techniques, and he saves 90 percent more water by recycling nutrient-dense water. His broccoli, tomatoes, lettuce and cauliflower float on polystyrene squares with holes cut into them, while their roots absorb nutrients from the water.
Hydroponics
Iyad al-Attar, from Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza, also received a UN grant to launch a hydroponic project after his family’s rented farmland was bulldozed and annexed as part of Israel’s buffer zone.
He spent years cultivating fish for his backyard aquaponic farm. After many costly experiments, he now grows 5,000 lettuce heads a year on water, along with a dozen other crops. To prevent crop diseases, he uses solutions mixed with natural ingredients, such as onions, hot peppers and olives, instead of chemicals.
“The most precious thing is the health of a human being,” Attar said. “The situation in Gaza pushed me to pursue this project. There are too many buildings, the land is shrinking and clean water is scarce.”
Solar Water Distillation
Last year, Gaza photographer Fayez al-Hindi created his own water distillation and purification system using solar energy. Tap water is poured into a three-metre-long basin, and as it evaporates onto the panels, it purifies and the clean water drops into a separate basin.
On an average sunny day in winter, his invention produces four to six litres of clean drinking water for his family.
“As human beings, we cannot live without water; we depend on water every day,” Hindi told Al Jazeera. “But the cost of water filters is expensive and the economic situation is bad, so I was thinking of alternative ways to filter the poisoned water and to share it with people.”
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Unfortunately, Hindi says that he has found little support to expand his project…
(via Alternative farming on the rise in besieged Gaza | | Al Jazeera)