BY: Hana Saada
ALGIERS- The Higher National Agronomic School (ENSA) has launched a cooperation project with the Agronomic University of Wageningen (Netherlands) for the design of smart greenhouses intended for market gardening in the peri-urban areas of the north of the country, announced a manager at ENSA on Tuesday.
Underscoring the interest of this project at the experimental stage in Algeria, Professor Ali Daoudi affirmed that the local production of these smart greenhouses, with the technical support of the Dutch university and the contribution of the Embassy of the Netherlands in Algeria, should enable the country to increase agricultural productivity in urban areas while reducing production costs.
“We have done simulations for the tomato sector, and we have had very interesting results,” he argued during a scientific workshop entitled “For a Sustainable Algerian Agriculture,” held at ENSA.
According to Professor Daoudi’s explanations, the production level of these smart greenhouses has reached 40 kilos per square meter: “This is almost double compared to conventional greenhouses, whose average yield is around 20 kilos per square meter.”
After the study phase, a prototype of this type of greenhouse will be produced at ENSA in order to present it to potential investors.
Professor Daoudi stressed, however, the need to train farmers to master this technology and convince them of its profitability.
He also highlighted the imperative of adopting “intelligent” agriculture to secure the food supply of cities.
“Urban areas are experiencing a high population concentration, and agricultural land is becoming increasingly scarce,” he noted, hence the interest in introducing new technologies that would ensure the supply of cities with agricultural products “at a lower cost.”
He recalled that the bulk of agricultural production currently comes from the south of the country, while strong demand comes from the cities of the north, while pointing out that the logistics chain to supply urban areas currently entails additional costs, not to mention the environmental impact of transport.
Present at this meeting, the agricultural adviser at the level of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Sabrina Waltmans, spoke of the bilateral cooperation between her country and Algeria “which dates back several decades, particularly in the milk and market gardening sectors.”
She also underlined the importance of developing cooperation between Algerian and Dutch private operators, particularly in the fields of new irrigation systems, biological control of agricultural pests, and organic fertilizers.
“The opportunities for cooperation are immense, and we are ready to share our know-how and our technologies with Algerian partners to promote sustainable agriculture,” she concluded.
