Report on protected agriculture bahrain

1. Eng. Esam Mustafa Abdulrazag
Director, Plant wealth Directorate
Ministry of Works, Municipalities
Affairs & Urban Planning

2. History of total areas of
greenhouses
year
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500
4000
4500
2000 2005 2010 2015
No of greenhouses
No of
greenhouses
year No of
greenhouses
Area in
hectares
2001 3464 64.55
2002 2564 50.79
2003 2786 51.91
2004 2533 46.11
2005 2329 47.6
2006 2350 48.0
2007 2420 48.7
2008 2447 49.0
2009 2615 50.5
2010 2779 52.0
2011 2697 51.95
2012 2615 51.9
2013 3887 68.7
2014 4100 73.8

3. History of total areas of greenhouses
 First greenhouse was constructed in 1978
 The progress was very slow at the beginning
 Farmers start picking the idea after realizing benefits
of PA
 By 2000 , Greenhouses were adopted by almost every
farmer
 Due to urbanization and recession during early 2000,
there was a drop in all agricultural sector
 Introduction of new growing systems boost PA after
2010 to date

4. Crops Under Greenhouses
Crops areas Remarks
 Tomatoes, Peppers,
Cucumbers, lettuce, egg
plants, beans are the most
common vegetables under
greenhouses
 Not many cut flowers
greenhouse are found due to
harsh weather

5. Productivity of Major Crops
crop Greenho
use type
Production
system
Clima
te
contr
ol
Average
yield
(kg/m2 )
Tomato Multiple
Span
Soil Non
coole
d
8.82
Cucumber Multiple
Span
Soil cooled 3.1
Cucumber Multiple
span
Hydroponic
s
cooled 8.1
Pepper Single span Soil None
cooled
14.7
Cantaloupe Single span Soil None
cooled
2.94
Eggplant Single span Soil None
cooled
14.11
Snake
cucumber
Single span Soil None
cooled
8.8

6. Types of Greenhouses & their Covers
 Simple single span greenhouse with width range from
4m. up to 9.4m., up to 3 m. high
 Larger multi span greenhouses, multiples of 7 or 9 m.,
3.4 up to 4 m. high
 Larger commercial multi span, 6 m. high
 Small low tunnels

7. Types of Greenhouses & their Covers
 Most popular cover is polyethylene film, normally UV
treated, 200 micron thick & over 85% light transparence
 Fiber glass corrugated sheets are also used
 Greenhouse may be covered by a combination of more than
one cover type.
 Covering greenhouse by anti insect white mesh is
becoming popular
 Low tunnels are covered by non woven white mesh
 Shade nets(70-50%) are also used as sun shades
 Polycarbonate is not very popular among normal farmers

8. Cooled or non cooled
Climate
control
None
cooled
cooled
Fan and
pad
High
pressure
fug
Healt
h
pump
Area in
hectares
62.73 11.07 - -
• Only 18% of the total area of greenhouses is under cooling
• Fan & pad is most popular cooling system used
• High relative humidity does not allow introduction of fogging
system
• High RH is a limitation of using evaporative cooling as well
• Water consumed by cooling systems is also counts as limitation
• High cost of cooling components also drives farmers away from
adopting cooling

11. Growing Systems

12. Origin of irrigation water
Productio
n system
Origin of
irrigation water
Quantity of
irrigation
water
(For
cucumber )
Soil Treated sewage water
,
bore well water
1 liter
/plant/day
hydroponi
cs
R.O. treated
underground water
0.2 liter
/plant/day

13. Water Consumption for Cooling
System
 Farmers usually do not measure accurately the
water consumed for cooling system
 Water consumed by cooling system is
incredibly high compared to that used by
plants
 Estimated quantity is about 75 -100 L /sq.m. of
cooling pad /day
 To save water farmers tend to use marginal
water for cooling, lowering the life and
performance of the pads.

14. Special greenhouses Technology
 Double doors is a normal practice for pest control
 Axial fans to facilitate air circulation inside
greenhouses
 Roof ventilation to exhaust trapped hot air at the roof
level
 Biological control is not popular
 Bumper Bee pollination is gaining popularity
 Bahrain was first to work on closed greenhouse to
circulate cooled air and use condensate water for
irrigation, project was hauled due to lack of funds &
expertise

15. Major Problems Facing Greenhouse
Growers
 Initial cost of investment
 Water quality (need to be treated at an extra cost)
 Unavailability of hydroponic grade fertilizers despite their
high cost
 Expensive hybrid seeds
 Cost of extending the growing season by cooling
 Harsh weather (RH & Temp)
 Land tenure problems
 Marketing chain & competition from imported
 Competition on resources from other more rewarding
sectors

16. Kind of subsidies
 The government subsides the following inputs by
60% from its market price (U$ 400,000 annually)
 Irrigation materials and fittings
 All greenhouse covers
 Hydroponic nutrients
 IPM tools & pesticides
 Hydroponic fertigation automatic controls
 Semi governmental bodies also provides soft
micro financing loans

17. Future Plan
 Promote new growing systems to enhance quality
production (pot plantation, vertical system.. Etc.
 Expansion in hydroponics systems for better water use
efficiency
 Application of readily available renewable solar
energy in greenhouse technology(transparent panel)
 Set standards and specifications for greenhouse
structures & covers
 Incubate agro prenueuares to establish their high
tech. agricultural projects in the newly established
Bahrain Agricultural Incubator.