Developing National Food Security Intelligence

Project: Applied Research

Project Details

Abstract

The State of Qatar is dominated by a desert climate with high temperatures and humidity in the summer challenging the cultivation of food crops. Other natural stressors exist, such as water scarcity; limited availability of arable land; and crop affliction by pests, diseases and weeds, negatively impacting crop production characteristics, including growth, quality and safety. As such, the lack of customized farming practices under such adverse conditions pertaining to crop harvesting strategies; irrigation and fertilisation; and pest and crop disease control, could severely hamper farm productivity. Consequently, Qatar is largely dependent on food imports, increasing exposure to global food markets and price hikes that are related to: (a) climate events, including heatwaves, droughts, storms, in addition to water deficits all of which impact agricultural productivity; (b) agricultural intensification further degrading soil fertility; and (d) geopolitics, embargos and global trade chokepoints disrupting supply chains. The proposed ‘Developing National Food Security intelligence’ project is a trans-national, multi-disciplinary and applied research initiative to design and implement smart technologies and techniques to aid planning of the local agriculture sector. The objective is to boost crop growth, yield, quality, nutritional value and safety for a feasible crop profile, comprising of vegetables, fruits and forage crops, whilst managing the natural environment and economic resources in a resilient manner. The project will do so by Objectives will be achieved by bridging the advances in diverse subject areas of: (a) agricultural farming technologies; (b) modelling climate scenarios; (c) mathematical optimisation for water and land management; (d) Internet of Things (IoT) sensing technologies; (e) computational algorithms in artificial intelligence for predictive risk management; and (f) advanced data visualisation for strategic decision-making. The project is supported by a strong consortium, comprising Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU); Qatar Meteorology Department (QMD), which is a result of longstanding partnership between premier academic and governmental institutions , with a strong track record in teaching, research and operational excellence. The proposed project aims to investigate and develop novel strategies to build resilience to the risk and cascading effects of stressors identified for the food production systems in Qatar. Specific objectives include: (1) developing novel techniques for composite geospatial indicators of emergent risk factors in the food production systems associated with climate, water and soil-related stressors at the national level to quantify the risk and resilience levels; (2) building the capacity for technology-based solutions, including the use of advancing the implementation of IoT technology and predictive artificial intelligence in food production systems; (3) rapid data assimilation and integrated risk analysis coupling climate, water and soil-related stressors to better understand the impacts, plan and optimise the resources for greater risk mitigation, adaptation and resilience. The complementary skills of the consortium will contribute towards completion of the work packages through: (1) Advanced climate modelling facility: QMD has extensive experience in developing and running climate models on regional and local scales particularly for Qatar; (2) Bio-geo-physico-chemical modelling: HBKU has conducted multivariate statistical modelling analysis of data from its in-house experimental capabilities to understand process level interactions related to climate, soil and water applications in agriculture; (3) Geospatial risk quantification and assessment: HBKU has conducted in-depth geostatistics, geospatial optimisation, and risk assessment studies for quantifying and assessing the impact of climatic stressors on the health and resource requirements of crops using satellite imaging and weather time series datasets; (4) Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence and Optimal Control: HBKU has in-house capabilities for sensor design, fabrication, development, characterisation and deployment for wide-area wireless sensor network applications. In addition, it has experience in a wide variety of large-scale applications using machine learning and artificial intelligence with GPU and parallel computing which together can be used to enhance food production productivity. The project work packages are aimed at developing an in-depth scientific understanding of the relationships between local climatic factors; water quality and quantity requirements; and soil conditions, and how the associated stressors lead to risks in distributed food production systems. Equipped with this knowledge, it would then be possible to efficiently design monitoring schemes using advances in wireless sensor networks and imaging technologies for predictive risk quantification, mitigation and adaptation. The project methodology will be applied in two real-case studies for Qatar, including a greenhouse test facility by Yara International and outdoor forage crop farm by Hassad Foods. The project is expected to disseminate novel digital data for national food security intelligence including: (a) national food risk and resilience indicator catalogue; (b) national atlas that includes a crop profile productivity potential and risk indicators at farm level; and (c) smart dashboard for infographics and insights, augmented with artificial intelligence for strategic decision-making and predictive risk management. It is envisaged project outcomes would enhance interactivity amongst the local and international scientists, public and private stakeholders, and the general public promoting greater national food security and resilience.

Submitting Institute Name

Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU)
Sponsor's Award NumberMME01-0922-190049
Proposal IDEX-QNRF-MME-1
StatusFinished
Effective start/end date9/09/209/03/24

Primary Theme

  • Sustainability

Primary Subtheme

  • SU - Resource Security & Management

Secondary Theme

  • Sustainability

Secondary Subtheme

  • SU - Sustainable Energy

Keywords

  • Resilience,Energy, Water and Food Nexus,Risk Management,Artificial intelligence,Internet of things
  • None

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