By Nicholas Seeley, Correspondent - February 19, 2010 By finding new markets for vegetables that require little water, a handful of Jordanian farmers are proving that agriculture can prosper in a dry land.
Amman, Jordan
When Jordan's government-supplied water got too dirty to use, farmer Khaireddin Shukri decided to make his own.
In 2002, Mr. Shukri spent $250,000 to build a small desalination and purification plant for Modern Valley Farms, which he managed in the Jordan Valley. While it was a significant investment, it allowed him to reuse the valley's abundant brackish water and sell his produce in foreign markets with stricter health requirements.
Today, the farm provides fresh salads for all McDonald's outlets in Jordan, and Shukri has moved on to another venture that exports premium produce to Europe. His embrace of a high-tech, value-added business model offers an example for how sustainable water practices can enable farms to prosper in one of the world's driest countries.
"The most limiting factor in desert farming is water," says Shukri. "If we don't know how to manage the water we won't survive."
A dangerous combination
Jordan is already consuming more than its renewable water resources, and as its population and economy grow, the need to economize and find new sources of water is becoming more urgent.
If you use more water then what is sustainable produced, you will not solve the problem - instead are adding to it !Ak Malten, Pro Peaceful Energy Use
No water? No problem for these Jordanian farmers.
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