The Machine of Soil and Water Management for Rice Crop Cultivation (SWMR) is devised by Mohamed El-Sayyed El-Hagarey at the Desert Research Center in Cairo. The machine ploughs the field in a manner that saves about 50 per cent of water used for rice irrigation, and cut the fertilizer usage up to 25 per cent.

Rice paddies across the world use 34−43 per cent of available water for irrigation. But the growing demand of water for agriculture, increasing population and climatic changes are responsible for rapid shrinking of developed fresh water resources around the globe.

The Zig-Zag paddy field

El-Hagarey designed a simple SWMR machine. Towed by a cart, the machine makes “V” shaped lines 20 cm deep and equally wide. It also sows rice seedlings automatically by a tray on top.

The basic cylinder is heart of the machine with many circular projections around. The projections carved cross section of trenches in the soil.

The V-shaped tranches use less water as compared to normal ground level. In traditional rice cultivation the in paddy field often submerge in water completely.

The machine was tested at Kafr el-Sheikh area, which is a famous for rice cultivation in Egypt. The initial test showed very promising results.

“I observed great results by saving about 50 per cent of irrigation water and 25 per cent of nutrients,” El-Hagarey said.

In an email reply to Muslim Science, El-Hagarey said that he is also working for further efficient model of the machine which could save more water and fertilizer in the future.

The innovative machine won the WatSave Award for Young Professionals from the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID) in November 2016.

Many countries are interested to use this machine and even offer a joint venture to El-Hagarey.

“Actually I have some problems in funding, but investigators from many states especially from India and China are offering me for commercial or joint venture,” told El-Hagarey to Muslim Science.

Experts in Egypt warn of water scarcity as a result of Ethiopian Renaissance Dam at the River Nile. On the other hand, Egypt is facing water shortage due to climatic changes and increasing population.

A team led by Shadi Wajih Hasan from Water & Environmental Engineering labs at Masdar made a unique three step technology to harness eco-friendly fertilizer.

Currently, livestock waste is used to make soil more fertile and urban sewage sludge has the same potential. But it was costly before this innovation as it contains high level of heavy metals needs more energy and resources to remove. For instance, in the US, it sucks up the equivalent energy output of four of the country’s biggest power plants every year.

The promising Three-in-One treatment system removes over 90 per cent of Zinc and 60 per cent of Copper from sewage sludge, creating good fertilizer for UAE farming industry. The removal limit is much low from the standards set by regulatory agencies.

A three-step technology

The three-step process combines chemical conditioning, electrokinetic method and post-treatment washing.

In beginning the team conditioned the sludge with aqua regia – a mixture of concentrated nitric and hydrochloric acids – to reduce the sludge particles size. This step also disrupts Zinc and Copper trapped in waste sludge

Then, the team applied an electrokinetic method by running the current between two electrodes to break to bonds between metallic ions.

Later Hasan’s team introduced a third step for even higher metal removal rates. They used an organic product called Pectin, extracted from citrus fruit peel. Pectin can absorb heavy metals at higher degree after EK treatment. The engineers used Pectin as post treatment of the sewage sludge and the remaining residue can be used as fertilizer.

Towards a pilot plant

To determine the commercial aspect of the method, the researchers also tested a pilot plant showed excellent results towards scale up production of the plant at industrial level.

This low-cost and less energy efficient system could be a solution for the ever growing urban sewage problem across the world by turning the waste into excellent fertilizer. Masdar’s team estimated that by using this method, Abu Dhabi could earn two million dollars annually from the fertilizer.

The bio-solids from sewage currently buried in landfills which are harmful for the environment due to their heavy metal contamination.