Hydroponics and Aquaponics with AIoT in Qatar (HAIAT)

Project: Applied Research

Project Details

Abstract

Domestic food self-sufficiency is one of the four pillars in the 2018-2023 National Food Strategy developed by the State of Qatar. Achieving food self-sufficiency requires farming activities to take place all year-round. This is a challenging endeavor in Qatar due to extreme weather conditions and the scarcity of arable land and water sources. The use of indoor farming practices such as hydroponics can address the lack of arable land. However, high temperatures during most of the year (April-October) require extensive use of water for cooling and irrigation in indoor farming. Such extensive use of water entails substantial investments in energy, since most of the water used in indoor farming in Qatar is produced through water treatment processes, which are energy intensive. These energy needs are increased by water treatment processes needed to disinfect recirculating water in greenhouse horticulture. The optimization of water and energy safety and efficiency in the production of high-quality vegetables is therefore a key challenge in achieving sustainability in indoor farming in Qatar. The project presented in this proposal plans to address this challenge by using Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT) methods and technologies to develop a Holistic Monitoring and Control System (HMCS) aimed to accelerate local production of high-quality vegetables in hydroponic and aquaponic systems with efficient use of water and electricity. The HMCS will rely of Internet-of-Things (IoT) sensors to collect multifaceted data in greenhouse horticulture settings. A micro-controller will transfer the data collected to the cloud where they will be processed using machine learning methods to create holistic models for optimizing vegetable production in local horticulture farms while minimizing the use of resources. The project will also include marker, technoeconomic, and environmental analyses to evaluate the technology developed in terms of competitive advantage, return on investment, and sustainability.

Submitting Institute Name

Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU)
Sponsor's Award NumberMME02-0911-200015
Proposal IDEX-QNRF-MME-5
StatusActive
Effective start/end date17/11/2117/05/25

Collaborative partners

Primary Theme

  • None

Primary Subtheme

  • None

Secondary Theme

  • None

Secondary Subtheme

  • None

Keywords

  • Greenhouse horticulture,Hydroponics,Artificial Intelligence,Internet of Things,Aquaponics
  • None

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