The Desert Green House Project

The Desert Green House Project

Solution Overview & Benefits

The desert greenhouse is a method for transforming sandy wasteland into arable land to plant vegetables and fruits and to increase the output of high-quality agricultural products.

According to scientific inspection and verification, many desert areas possess good natural conditions which can be developed and utilized to build greenhouses. Despite scarce rainfall, desert areas contain valuable building materials such as sand, wheat, straw, twigs and other organic materials. By using these readily available resources to construct greenhouses, construction and operational costs are minimized and organic cultivation is achieved. As a result, desert greenhouses produce social, economic and ecological benefits.

Grooves are dug in the sand which hold tree bark, sawdust, poultry manure or oil cake mixed evenly with sandy soil. When fully fermented, this mixture creates a vegetative environment in which seedlings can be planted. The temperature in the desert greenhouse is usually between 15 and 25 degrees centigrade for most kinds of planted fruits and vegetables. The operational greenhouse in China shows positive results as eggplants, peppers, watermelons, tomatoes and other crops prosper.

The annual cost to maintain a greenhouse is around $3,200 USD. To construct a greenhouse in a typical desert surrounding requires about $7,150 USD. A desert green house investor can gain back their investment within two years.

History & Development

The Desert Greenhouse method can help overcome challenges of desertification by converting desert waste land into productive agricultural land. The Desert Green House Project is currently operational as part of the Xinjian Shawan Oasis Sustainable Development program in Xinjiang, China. The greenhouses are currently in active production.

Availability

Publicly available: yes
Countries where available: China
Price range (USD): over 200 USD

Additional Information

 
Solution Providers Website (external link) Product Webpage (external link)

Updates

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