The innovation turning desert sand into farmland BBC News Aamir Rafiq Peerzada 16-5-2018 Faisal Mohammed Al Shimmari Farms are in some of the most extreme conditions in the world, at Al Ain, an oasis in the United Arab Emirates desert, where temperatures can reach 50C. "It's expensive as we have to buy water regularly to irrigate these plants," he says. Farmers have to use tankers to bring in water, and in the desert farms use almost three times as much water as those in temperate climates. This makes farming in the desert impractical so the UAE imports about 80% of its food. Yet for many, this might be the future of farming. Increased drought, deforestation and intensive farming methods are turning an area half the si ze of Britain into desert each year. According to the United Nations, by 2030, 135 million people could lose their homes and livelihoods to desertification. That raises the challenge of how to grow food in increasingly hostile conditions, but one scientist has come up with an innovation that could turn those deserts green again.
Liquid clay.......Norwegian scientist Kristian Morten Olesen has patented a process to mix nano-particles of clay with water and bind them to sand particles to condition desert soil - he has been working on Liquid Nanoclay (LNC) since 2005. "The treatment gives sand particles a clay coating which completely changes their physical properties and allows them to bind with water," he says. "This process doesn't involve any chemical agents. We can change any poor-quality sandy soils into high-yield agricultural land in just seven hours." Kristian's son Ole Morten Olesen, who is also the chief operating officer of the company they founded, Desert Control, says: "We just mix natural clay in water that is inserted into the sand which creates half a metre layer into the soil that turns the sand into good fertile soil." Normal sand particles are very loose, which means that they have a very low water retention capacity.But when you add Liquid Nanoclay to the sand it binds those sand particles together, says Kristian, which means it can hold water for longer, "increasing the possibility of agricultural yield". UAE trial.....read on https://www.bbc.com/news/