Jeddah: King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) researchers are collaborating with local farmers and the Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agriculture to develop innovative strategies that address Saudi Arabia’s critical challenge of fresh water scarcity in agriculture.
According to Saudi Press Agency, a new KAUST Center of Excellence for Sustainable Food Security project aims to enhance sustainable agriculture in arid environments by integrating controlled environment agriculture (CEA) with desalination of non-conventional water resources. The initiative focuses on desalination and wastewater treatment technologies to supply ‘clean enough’ water for hydroponic farming of high-value crops, addressing plant health and affordability concerns.
KAUST Environmental Science and Engineering Prof. Noreddine Ghaffour, principal investigator, said, ‘Why not tailor desalination technology by removing only exactly what we want removed? It will be cheaper than previous practices because we will do it with less energy, targeting specific crops.’ His team is innovating solutions to achieve food abundance and economic growth. ‘If successful, the Kingdom will be exporting, not importing, these technologies,’ Ghaffour added.
According to the release, current practices for farmers to desalinate local brackish water are inefficient and expensive. They remove all ions, including valuable nutrients absent in local soils, and so the water must be partially remineralized. Ghaffour team’s selective approach only eliminates what each crop type cannot handle. This reduces steps, cuts energy use, and lowers costs.
‘Some crops need more salt than others. Some may need more nutrients. Some crops are not tolerant to boron. That is why our target is to tailor. Our target is to keep the cost as low as possible,’ Ghaffour highlighted.
The two-year research project, which began in September 2024, sees KAUST researchers evaluating technological solutions such as nanofiltration, electrodialysis, and brackish water reverse osmosis. Their aim is to determine what works best. One approach involves ‘forward osmosis,’ which uses liquid-phase fertilizers to drive the process.
The project also employs anaerobic membrane bioreactor technology combined with ultraviolet disinfection to reclaim municipal wastewater, enhancing CEA system water quality and nutrient availability.
‘It will develop a comprehensive footprint of various groundwaters in the Kingdom, select crop-specific desalination technologies, and optimize the best-performing treatment configurations for testing with selected crops in the KAUST Plant Science Core Lab, aiming to deliver prototypes at TRL 4-5,’ said the release.
Addressing Saudi Arabia’s growing water and food demands, this overall project aligns with national goals of sustainable agriculture, wastewater reuse, and reduced freshwater reliance. ‘It promotes resilient farming practices, champions the Kingdom’s food security strategy, and highlights how innovative KAUST faculty are driving impactful academic research to address the nation’s critical challenges, underscoring KAUST as one of Saudi Arabia’s valuable assets,’ the release added.
