These desert plants love to keep cool…

Having access to freshwater is critical in being able to grow crops.

And one of the countries struggling with this is Saudi Arabia – which lacks freshwater due to its desert climate.

This means they usually have to import the majority of their food. But now, thanks to a startup’s brilliant new idea, that might be changing…

A small startup fixing a big issue

Red Sea Farms is a new startup that’s created technology that allows saltwater to be incorporated into commercial farming.

They use a high-tech greenhouse that can be used in hot, dry climates like Saudi Arabia.

The Red Sea greenhouse counters the region’s heat by keeping the plants cool. Nearly 95% of the water used in the greenhouse flows to the cooling system – not irrigation like most might imagine.

Since the plants can’t use salt water, the water goes towards keeping the plants cool rather than being an actual water source. This saves a lot of time and resources since freshwater would be more costly.

Growing a better future

 

The startup is also developing tech that would be able to block out the infrared light coming into the greenhouse to prevent heating. This would be an extra step in keeping the plants cool.

Red Sea chief executive Ryan Lefers stated, “Part of our excitement over Red Sea farms was about delivering an agriculture system that was more sustainable for the local environment because we’re primarily using saltwater and sunlight as our two main inputs, both of which exist in abundance.”

So far Red Sea has raised $10 million from investors, and they hope to use that money to build more facilities and test their experiments on a larger scale.

 They’re also talking with island nations around the world who could also potentially benefit from using seawater to their advantage. They hope this initiative will motivate more people towards food sustainability.

Clearly, this type of technology will play a critical role in fighting the climate crisis and food scarcity around the world. But what do you think about this idea? Should the government invest in it to become more self-sufficient in their agricultural industry?

Let us know your thoughts down below!