Farmers and engineers at a Sharjah farm are getting ready to welcome the first harvest of an enterprising wheat project.
Harvesting machines will assemble at the fields in March, collecting the matured crops.
The farm covers 400-hectare complex, about the size of 500 football pitches, in Mleiha. The project is being handled by the department of agriculture and livestock in Sharjah.
Dr Khalifa Musabeh Ahmed Alteneiji, Chairman of the Department of Agriculture and Livestock says the harvest date as predicted is any time between March 15 and 20.
The first phase of the farm was opened in November by Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Ruler of Sharjah, as machine operators drove on the fields disseminating seeds.
According to him, In four months, the desert land at the base of rocky mountains has been transformed into a green oasis, ready to yield up to 1,700 tonnes of wheat.
The farm is equipped with state-of-the-art technology, which includes soil sensors as well as satellites that perform thermal imaging of the site. The sensors can measure the quantity of water in the soil to avoid wastage.
The farm also has an on-site weather station that can predict temperature, wind speed and humidity for up to 48 hours. If rain is forecast, the farm cuts down on irrigation.
The fields are irrigated using a reservoir with a capacity of 16,000 cubic metres. In one day, up to 60,000 cubic metres of water can be generated out using six large suction pumps.
