🇦🇪  bani farm 🇦🇪 

🌱 🌳 🌿

> what is your mission

developing and applying
high tech innovations
to agriculture
within the parameters
of the uae ecosystem

> why this name

bani means children
but also is used
interchangeably
to mean tribe

we intend bani farm
to bring together
individuals 
thus forming a tribe

we will also 
bring technologies together
to give birth
to new innovations
in the agriculture field

so bani farm
seems to be 
an appropriate name
for our project

> why the uae

the uae
actually presents
a unique set of challenges
that is very interesting
from an 
agriculture technology standpoint

contrary
to popular belief
the uae 
has not always been
about oil

the uae economy
was based on
pearls
for decades

as the uae
transitioned
from diving for pearls
to drilling for oil

it is now time
to transition
to digging for plants

the uae is blessed
with some of the 
highest solar irradiance
in the world

considering that
photosynthesis
the primary growth mechanism
for plants
depends on sun

this is 
an incredible blessing

of course
it comes with 
some ecosystem challenges

in the form of 
high temperatures
and low amounts of 
fresh water

but we sincerely believe that
with some emerging technologies
and some uae specific innovations

we will be able to 
overcome these challenges
in due course

> how

we will implement
a series of six programs
to support
our agriculture tech innovation

MESH NETWORK

technology can help
in agriculture
but we need plenty of sensors

we intend to 
build our own custom sensors
and deploy our own mesh network
using lorawan
over our fields

this will enable us
to communicate within
a range of 10 km
for our internet of things

to make sure
all of our data
remains in sync
in realtime

and can be used
along with our 
machine learning algorithms
to make salient decisions

this will consume 
relatively little power
and be self sustaining
due to some micro solar cells
on our custom sensors

GREEN HOUSE

while there is 
incredible solar irradiance
there are also
incredibly high temperatures
which can damage plants

we will aim to create
translucent green houses
with nano material coatings

which will allow the light
to go through
while minimising 
the heat transfer
from outside

this will involve
developing new materials
with machine learning
which can help us
iterate over molecular combinations

we will also experiment
with different structural designs
that can help minimise
the surface areas
and consequently also
minimise heat transfer

DESALINATION

while there is little
fresh water
in the uae

there is a 
vast coastline
with abundant salt water

desalination however
is an incredibly 
energy intensive process

we will develop a
more efficient process
using passive solar

we will also recycle 
the brine leftover
from desalination

and convert it
into a form that
can be used
in sodium ion batteries

NUTRIENTS

nutrients
are the other key factor
apart from photosynthesis
due to sunshine

however
nutrient prices
can be incredibly volatile
and fall victim
to unstable supply chains

we intend to make 
our own nutrient ingredients
right here
in the uae

this will involve
recycling food waste
in custom bioreactors
that have genetically engineered
yeast bacteria
to create the nutrients

AB TESTING

we intend to 
speed up the 
innovation process
by borrowing from
software practices

notably
we will implement
ab testing

we will have fields
with slightly different
configurations

this will help us
isolate in a scientific manner
what are the most
impactful inputs
for the growth
of our plants

RESIDENCY

we intend to invite
some of the pre eminent
agriculture technologists
in the world

to come spend 
one month residencies
on our farm
to test experimental designs

we will establish
a collaborative research program
with wageningen university
to encourage
these residencies for scholars

CONCLUSION

through these six programs
we intend
to tackle the challenge
of farming
in the uae ecosystem

just as oil
used to just 
spring from the ground

we envision
through technology
to have plants
spring from the ground
for the upcoming generation

through our efforts
we hope to contribute
to increasing the 
self sufficiency 
and food security
of the uae

🌱 🌳 🌿

🇦🇪 🤲 🇦🇪