In an interview with the Gulf News, a young entrepreneur from Kuwait, Abdul Aziz Al Mulla, talks about his ambitious plans to tackle the water supply crisis the GCC may face in 20 years.
Al Mulla established a startup called Madar Farms in February. The business plan includes creating a fully automated robotic hydroponics farm. Currently, it is operating three units built into recycled shipping containers and is on its fourth harvest. At the moment they grow leafy greens and are planning to add legumes and berries shortly.
The entrepreneur explains that the technology is not new. Moreover, it has been successfully used in other countries. What Madar Farms adds to it is a mobile app. It monitors crop growth and spread tasks among workers to maximize efficiency and ensure maximum yield. Next to that, it also helps Al Mulla to check on some containers simultaneously to ensure consistent growth. The business customers would also get additional services such as container storage and management. The app will be available in several languages – English, Arabic, Tagalog, Urdu, and Hindi.
Compared to traditional farming, it is an environmentally-friendly method. Thanks to the innovative hydroponics technology, it uses less than 1 percent of the water used in brick and mortar farms:
You want people to convert from unsustainable farming habits to more sustainable ones, but not only that, you want to deliver higher quality products and all the spiel that comes with that. To encourage them to do so, you need to make it as accessible as possible to drive adoptability.
Talking about his small but ambitious team, Al Mulla quickly points out that they do not have a previous background in agriculture and farming. One of the stepping stones behind his idea is to be easy to use and adaptable even for someone who has not planted a single crop before.
In September this year, the company starts distributing units to end customers. Each one costs between USD 85,000 and USD 95,000 depending on the requirements. Al Mulla is still trying to find a way to decrease the prices a bit. Based on the electricity costs, the founder expects a return on investment of four to seven years for each container. Namely, the higher power requirements increase the operating costs of containers significantly. That is why the team is looking for smaller units suitable for installation in restaurants and other public spaces.
Al Mulla confirms that his long term goal is providing food security for the whole region. By the end of 2018, he intends to start building an automated hydroponics factory at a 40,000 square foot plant. He estimates that it would grow about 3,000 kg of food per day. According to Al Mulla, this is a relatively small scale if we talk about the food security of the whole region. Therefore, he envisages a chain of plants, producing not only lettuce but also wheat, root crops, fruits, etc. He is also researching the options for automated fish farming.
As far as food hygiene in the units is concerned, the founder explains that it is vital. Al Mulla is in charge for the strict sanitary process in all the hydroponics containers. Thanks to the automatization of the process, all the necessary fertilizers are delivered via the roots, which means that the plants can be eaten directly, even without washing.