Bahrain: Food security in Bahrain could be at risk if more investment is not put into the country’s agriculture sector, a leading grower has warned.
Despite vast improvements in new technologies such as hydroponics in recent decades, the whole of the GCC is still lagging around “20 years behind Europe”, according to Peninsula Farms chief operating officer Grahame Dunling.
Speaking from his 300,000sqm farm in Sakhir that produces up to 1,000 packs of lettuce and 2,000 punnets of tomatoes every day, Mr Dunling said Bahrain should be proud of the progress it had made so far – but must work towards a more sustainable future.
“If we had a real investment of about BD3.5 to BD4 million, we would be able to build a very modern facility that can produce three times what we’re currently producing in half the area,” he said.
“In Europe, you would get a yield of about 80 to 100kg per sqm and call that a success, whereas here it’s about 10kg per sqm.
“The difference, though, is the investment there would be BD2 to BD3m, whereas here it will be BD200,000.
“You can’t have that dramatic a difference in investment and still expect the same yield.
“I’m looking for investment, but no-one will invest unless you can offer instant cash return, which is difficult to find in the experimental stage.”
Mr Dunling said it was easy to make even the most traditional of farms more self-sufficient in terms of electricity, through hydropower and recycling of organic material.
“I have to use water anyway, so it makes sense to have water’s movement generate our electricity,” he said.
“A hydrogenerator is an investment, but it’s all relative – we need to care more about this.
“If we had an anaerobic digester, we could use the leaves and other organic waste to produce electricity, but again, we don’t have the investment.
“In Bahrain and many GCC countries, we’re 20 years behind Europe on this front.
“Everything is there to be more sustainable, we just need funds – but how does a private company do this if there’s no incentive?”
The grower suggested that the government help out smaller farmers by offering centralised “packhouses” that could benefit them all.
“A grading machine costs between BD50,000 and BD60,000 – a small grower can’t afford that,” he said.
“In China, I set up a central packhouse and had each grower responsible for a certain crop – a greenhouse for tomatoes, several for lettuce and so on, and then have the packhouse be responsible for grading and packing it.
“But nothing comes of it here because there’s a lack
of vision.”
Other changes Mr Dunling suggested included allowing smaller farmers to sell to supermarkets, as they are often restricted to central and farmer’s markets at present by law.
Peninsula Farms was established in 2012 and currently produces tomatoes, capsicums, chillies and lettuce from its base in the desert south of the Tree of Life.
laala@gdn.com.bh