Dear Rocket Boy,
Not only that this could be done, but this was already done in Israeli
deserts and in th dead-sea area, where the land is naturally very
salty and unsuitable for cultivation.
" With little fresh water, but an almost unlimited underground supply
of brackish (salty) water, Israeli researchers in applied desert
agriculture have, over the past two decades, concentrated on
developing new technologies for brackish water irrigation of crops.
Even though brackish water is abundant in most desert regions in the
world, such innovative research had never been conducted before, and
Israeli expertise and experience gained carries broad local, regional
and international ramifications."
(SOURCE : Negev Desert Homepage, <http://www.negev.org/About/need.htm>).
This is no conventional agriculture, but sustainable agriculture that
does not plants "normal" crops that might add to the desertification,
but instead, "The ten plant species are as follows: argania (argania
spinosa), carob (ceratoonia siliqua), almond (prunis almygdalus),
capers (capparis spinosa), mustard capers (capparis sinaica), Indian
date (zisiphus mauritania), cactus apple (cereus peruvianes), neem
(azdirachta indica), sapodilla (manilkara zapota) and marula
(schelcarya caffra bierra)." (SOURCE: Kibbutz Ketura, The Paramount
Objective
Of Sustainable Agriculture In The Middle East,
<http://desertagriculture.org/tech2.html>).
Some of these plants are watered with special drip-irrigation systems,
that save and minimise the usage of water.
The Jewish Virtual Library adds:
"Near the Desert Plant Research Station of Ben-Gurion University in
Be'er Sheva is a farm cultivated over 2,000 years ago by the earliest
desert farmers, the Nabateans. Their agricultural methods were
astonishingly sophisticated. By building terraces and clearing the
soil of stones, every drop of runoff water was collected and then
diverted to the lower-lying fields and orchards.
The methods have changed, but saving water and making optimal use of
scarce land still characterizes agriculture in the region." (SOURCE:
Jon Fedler, "Israeli Agriculture: Coping with Growth", Jweish Virtual
Library, <http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/agriculture/aggrowth.html>
- this article has lots of interesting details on how desert
agriculture is realised).
You could read more about it:
Kibbutz Ketura, Desert Agriculture Centre <http://desertagriculture.org/>
TRACY WILKINSON, "For Israeli Pioneers, Negev Desert Holds Promise of
a Fruitful Future Mideast: Innovative agriculture uses brackish water
to raise crops such as shrimp, algae and edible cactus for a
limited--but lucrative--market." Los Angeles Times, September 5,
1999, <http://www.m-sadeh.org.il/kibbutz/al.htm>.
Shmuel Rothbard and Yacov Peretz, "Tilapia Culture in NEGEV, The
Israeli Desert", Aquafind,
<http://www.aquafind.com/articles/TilapiaDesert.php> - thois is
totally weird: this agricultural innovation cultivates fish pools in
the middle of the desert, using geothermal water resources.
The book _Mirage: The False Promise of Desert Agriculture_ by Russell
Clemings (attacks the attempts to impose "conventional" agriculture on
the desert and supports drip -irrigation and other methods mentioned
in this answer).
Universidad Arturo Prat, Departamento Agricultura del Desierto
<http://www.unap.cl/~agrodes/> - a Chilean university department,
specialising in desert agriculture.
Arava Agricultural projects <http://www.arava.co.il/mop/agri.html>
Eden Foundation, <http://www.eden-foundation.org/project/index.html> -
on developing agriculture in the Sahel region.
I hope this answered your question. Please contact me if you need any
further clarifications on this answer before you rate it. |
Request for Answer Clarification by
rocketboy-ga
on
21 Apr 2004 04:36 PDT
Dear google answer,
Just before I put this to rest, i need some clarification on the
possibility of using sand instead of soil (I'm assuming that there is
indeed a difference between the two), I've always regarded sand in the
state or composition that we know of (yellowy-brownish similar to one
you find on the beach) as being barren, deprived or lacking the
nutrients needed such as nitrogen, phosphorus and so forth, not so of
soil that looks more of a darker color even black, most comonly found
in pots for house plants. Furthermore, as I am understanding your
original repsonse, attempts to grow so called "normal" is futile and
is not worth venturing into it e.g. strawberries, grapes in addition
to wheat and other grains.
Thank you very much
|
