Engr. Arun Martin
Facilities Management & Planning Department
Leader of Integrated Organic Farm at UOS

Eng. Abrar Al Hammadi
PhD Student
Leader of Integrated Organic Farm at UOS

Goals

1. Promote Health and Nutrition: Create access to affordable, local, healthy, and sustainable food sources for UoS residents. Promote healthy living through gardening.
2. Growing Locally: Facilitate growing healthy food for personal use, ensure food is grown without chemicals and is not genetically modified.
3. Provide Educational Opportunities: Offer hands-on experiences and seminars focused on health, nutrition, environmental stewardship, and organic gardening.
4. Strengthen the Local Community: Create partnerships, build diverse and collaborative relationships, and improve quality of life through community gardening.
5. Protect the Environment: Eliminate the use of chemicals, fertilizers, and pesticides to protect land, soil, air, and water. Prevent food waste and reduce carbon footprints.
6. Support Public Policy: Advocate for community gardens and develop strategies to recycle and reuse materials to create a sustainable environment.
7. Soil Fabrication: Use biodegradable kitchen waste like vegetable peels and coffee grounds to fabricate soil, reducing waste and enhancing soil health in the UAE.
8. Recycling: Recycle paper cups, yogurt buckets, and wooden boxes to make soil and grow organic vegetables.
9. Community Awareness: Encourage terrace/balcony gardening through social media, workshops, and radio channels to promote stress-free, healthy neighborhoods.
10. Collaborate with Municipality: Work with municipalities to train apartment caretakers on soil creation using kitchen waste.
11. Resource Utilization: Use sawdust and animal dung to convert sandy soils into fertile land for high-yield agriculture.
12. Long-Term Goals: Develop projects to strengthen local production of fruits and vegetables using sustainable strategies.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• Energy Management: Track energy usage to reduce costs and emissions.
• Fertilizer Management: Use the right type and amount of fertilizer to meet crop needs sustainably.
• Food Safety: Commit to producing the safest food possible from field to fork.
• Greenhouse: Minimize carbon footprint by incorporating sustainable practices in operations.
• Soil Management: Focus on healthy soil for better crop yield and sustainability.
• Waste Reduction: Implement "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" principles to minimize waste.
• Water Management: Conserve water and maintain its quality for fresh produce operations.
• Ecosystems & Biodiversity: Promote sustainable agriculture while adhering to food safety standards.
• Track the quantity and quality of soil produced annually using vegetable waste from the campus.
• Assess the nutritional value of vegetables grown using composted soil.
• Survey the sense of wellness among the community involved in gardening.
• Measure the number of terrace and balcony gardens in the UAE.
• Monitor reductions in dependency on imported vegetables and fruits, contributing to UAE's economic growth.
• Evaluate decreases in greenhouse gas emissions.

Current Projects and Achievements

1. Building a greenhouse and hydroponic system.
2. Prepared high-yield soil in the College of Medicine with the cooperation of faculty, service personnel, and janitors.
3. Reused yogurt containers from the hospital canteen to make compost bins, reducing costs.
4. Utilized sawdust and goat dung as manure for sustainable gardening.
5. Recycled 15 kg of food waste to produce around 8 tons of organic compost.

New Initiatives

1. Involve students in sustainability efforts through volunteering, courses, workshops, and seminars.
2. Planting 60 different types of tomatoes with the aim to set a record in the year 2019-2020.