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3/31/2015

Abd Al Hameed Mohammed Saeed, an Agriculture Engineer with Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority (ADFCA), stressed the importance of collaboration to rationalize water use in the agriculture sector as it accounts to 56 per cent of water consumption in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. “This is one of the objectives of our wise leadership and Abu Dhabi 2030 strategy,” Saeed said in a presentation organized on Monday, March 30 , 2015, in the Majlis of Sheikh Khalid bin Tanaf Al Minhali in Bani Yas area in the attendance of Dr. Eng. Majid Al Kathiri, Director of Assets Directorate, Eng. Mohammed Mushait Al Mazrouei Executive Director of Projects and Connections Directorate, Ahmed Al Zaabi, Head of Customer Support Department, Eng. Abd Allah Al Badi, Head of Water Engineering Section, a number of employees and the public. Adding; “UAE is one of the Arab countries that suffer from water shortage, i.e. countries in which individual gets less than 500 liters per year and it receives less than 100mm of rainwater per year”. He also said that lack of surface water resources increased the dependency on underground water 20 times more since the large increase in the agriculture sector in the 1960s. “However, a new strategy has been set in 2010 to reduce dependency on underground water for farming by 40 per cent, actually increased to 45 per cent, through the introduction of best irrigation and farming techniques, phasing out of water-intensive crops, like Rhodes grass, and finally the use of treated sewerage water for irrigation” he said. The agricultural research stations of ADFCA produced high quality crops and animal feed species that need less water, he said. Eng. Abd Allah Al Badi, Head of Water Engineering Section, said shed light on scarcity of water in this region in the past and the great efforts exerted by the government to produce drinking water. He also said that the new tariff has been introduced with the ultimate objective of helping people to rationalize their consumption.

The presentation was part of ADDC’s programs aimed at encouraging the public to conserve water and electricity and the sustainable use of natural resources.

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