Sustainable Agriculture in the Arabian/Persian Gulf Region Utilizing Marginal Water Resources: Making the Best of a Bad Situation

J. Jed Brown, Probir Das and Mohammad Al-Saidi
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J. Jed Brown: Center for Sustainable Development, College of Arts and Sciences, Qatar University, P.O. Box 2713, Doha 2713, Qatar
Probir Das: Center for Sustainable Development, College of Arts and Sciences, Qatar University, P.O. Box 2713, Doha 2713, Qatar
Mohammad Al-Saidi: Center for Sustainable Development, College of Arts and Sciences, Qatar University, P.O. Box 2713, Doha 2713, Qatar

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 5, 1-16

Abstract: One way to encourage agricultural self-sufficiency in arid regions is to increase the productivity of conventional freshwater agriculture. Another way is to develop and implement novel strategies and technologies that do not deplete scarce freshwater. Here we describe several options for countries in the Gulf region to increase their agricultural production by taking advantage of a lesser used resource—marginal water. Marginal water can be treated sewage effluent, produced oilfield water, brackish groundwater or seawater. We describe how this resource can be used to grow salt-tolerant forage crops, microalgae and aquaculture crops. Policies needed to implement and/or scale-up such practices are also outlined.

Keywords: Arabian Gulf; Persian Gulf; GCC; microalgae; saline agriculture; halophytes; aquaculture; treated sewage effluent; produced water; aquafeeds (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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