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Maldives is about an hour's flight south-west of Colombo, Sri Lanka. This beautiful country is made up of more than 1,000 tiny islands, each only about the size of a 9 hole golf course (approximately 50 ha.). More than 300,000 tourists visit this tropical paradise annually. Most of the food stuff (an estimated value of US$30 million annually) has to be imported into the country to serve the tourists as well as the local population.
The main constraints with regard to food production in the Maldives are:-
- the shortage of suitable land for agriculture
- the soils that are allocated for crop production are very poor. They are very sandy and have poor moisture and nutrient retention.
- fresh water is limited and rainwater is the only source for agricultural application.
- well water is available for field application, but it contains too much salt (EC of 1 to 1.4) to be suitable for hydroponic use.
- rainfall is seasonal and often there is no rain for several months at a stretch. The annual rainfall averages about 100cm.
In 2001, our client, the "Seagull Group", with regard to the above problems, opted to use the Autopot Systems for their hydroponic vegetable production of a mixed crop of cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuces, herbs and Chinese broccoli. The key reasons behind this decision is Autopot's water efficiency (there is a sarcity of freshwater), zero-run off (less environmental impact on the sensitive corals) and simplicity (there is a shortage of skilled workers).
In 2001, a 1,000 sq. M greenhouse with the Autopot Systems was installed by L S Autopot Pty Ltd, Sydney. Two large concrete reservoirs were erected next to the greenhouse to collect all the rainwater from the greenhouse run-off. The amount of rainwater collected was sufficient to meet all the freshwater requirements of the crop.
Since then the Seagul Group has been able to produce substantial supplies of fresh vegetables for several other holiday resorts as well as their own. |