After seven years of research, the United Arab Emirates engineer Fahd Mohammad Saeed Hareb, in collaboration with the German scientist Helmut F. Schulze, has just found a sand that could turn the arid desert into a green and fertile territory .
Its operation is very simple. It is a hydrophobic sand -impermeable to water- that, placed in a layer 10 centimeters thick under the sandy soil of the desert, stops the filtration of rainwater into the subsoil, allowing enough liquid for the plants. Each grain of this “miracle” sand is covered with an additive called SP-HFS 1609 , developed with the help of nanotechnology , the composition of which its creators keep secret for commercial reasons. According to Saeed, the production capacity of the factory where the material will be produced is 3,000 tons per day.
With this technique, traditional desert crops, which currently need to be irrigated 5 or 6 times a day, could survive on a single irrigation, which would reduce water consumption by 75%. So far, in Dubai they have tried it with palm trees and different herbs, with excellent results. The next challenge will be the cultivation of rice in the desert , a challenge considering that this cereal normally grows in soils soaked with water.
