Active in the agricultural field since 2017, he has followed scientific methods from the beginning. So, his first steps were to get to know the exact specifications of soil and water in Qatar.
The Qatari agriculturist and entrepreneur found that salinity was high in the soil but decided against the use of plants which absorb the salt content as it would waste the scarce ground water. The solution came in form of a bacteria.
"We co-operated with an international company and produced the quantities we needed of this bacteria. We used it to grow vegetables in a soil characterised by a high degree of salinity.
"The experiment succeeded, and we were even able to achieve high production rates with a distinctive taste of the vegetables, despite knowing that the percentage of organic matter or soil fertility in Qatar was less than 1%.
"Thanks to this technology the percentage has now exceeded 9% without chemical fertilisers. That is equivalent to the same degree of soil fertility in Turkey.
"It is expected that we will be able to raise that percentage to 13% next year, to get to the same level as soil fertility in Europe. We were also able to reduce the volume of water consumption by up to 70%.”
Sheikh Faisal pointed out that the beneficial bacteria trap water around the roots of the plant and convert the minerals from non-absorbable to absorbable. They allow the plant to grow well, moreover, they also absorb the salinity in these plants. This provides a symbiotic life between bacteria on the one hand and plants on the other.
"The beneficial bacteria are naturally present in the soil, but we are increasing their percentage. There are two ways to add these bacteria to the soil, the first is to add it in the form of powder. The second method is to add it as a liquid by mixing with irrigation water.
"This technique can also be used in breeding animals, birds and fish. There is a type of beneficial bacteria that contributes to increasing the proportion of meat in the animal, including an increase in the proportion of milk. The use of this type of bacteria in sheep breeding, has reduced the use of feed by 50%. Moreover, the quality of meat became higher, the health of the animal became better, and its size larger. This bacteria contributed to reducing the consumption of medicines and animals even became more temperature tolerant.
"This technology contributed to increasing agricultural production by 30%, and milk production by 20 to 30%. The quality also improved, the percentage of fat doubled, which ultimately means an increase in the amount of cheese," he added.
