The Al- tanaji family are UAE Nationals from sharjah who want to use their 40000-square meter land to develop a closed hydroponics farm greenhouse earning 670,000 AED annually. This farm will focus on using many different types of hydroponics farming and recycling water techniques to grow crops in water instead of soil.
The hydroponics farm will use a greenhouse and special irrigation systems to grow 12 tomato and lettuce harvests every month yearly for their family and to sell at the local vegetable market. Research shows that major depreciation of farm equipment usually takes four years or more, so farmers will have to keep up regular maintenance to avoid losing equity in their machinery and farm. Using the same hydroponics crop system will allow for a variety of benefits to help make the family farm into a practical business enterprise.
The UAE is a desert environment that can be extremely hot and humid with soil that does not have the proper nutrients needed for developing the agricultural industry. In the past, many farmers have tried to grow a variety of different crops but have had very little luck making farming into a profitable business venture.
Traditional farming of fruits and vegetables has not been successful due to the limited knowledge and technologies which UAE farmers have had access to in previous years. Since the UAE imports almost 90% of its food, it is essential that creative new strategies be used to establish different types of farming businesses.
Global food security is one of the most important issues worldwide due to the lack of fresh food which will be available in the future. Hydroponics farming techniques have proven to be very effective in other global nations, so Emirati entrepreneurs need to try these innovative approaches using special irrigation systems to develop their farms
The primary goal of this research project is to determine how the Al-Taniji family property can become a successful hydroponics farm business. Other significant goals of this project include learning about local UAE and global hydroponics farming companies to identify various obstacles which may prevent success for the farm business venture.
It is crucial that they know all about hydroponics agriculture and the different types of fruits and vegetables which can grow, so they can determine if it will be an important business to invest. It is also critical that this research provides information on the potential success of SME entrepreneurial businesses helping to improve the agricultural sustainability of the UAE.
Another goal is to determine if a UAE entrepreneurial family hydroponics farm business can achieve the set objectives and earn enough income to be a realistic agricultural business for the community.
