In a world where the climate is becoming increasingly warmer and erratic, farmers are struggling to keep their crops cool. A startup founded in the desert of Saudi Arabia may think it has a solution.
The technology reduces temperatures in greenhouses by up to 7 degrees Celsius, without any loss of light, by using nanotechnology embedded in plastic polymer sheets to eliminate near-infrared solar radiation. By reducing heat in greenhouses, the company claims crops can be grown with as much as 30% less water and less energy required in a greenhouse with mechanical cooling.
It’s called SecondSky and was developed by Derya Baran, associate professor of materials science and engineering at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST).
The award-winning design was quickly commercialized and now has buyers in 15 countries, through Iyris (formerly RedSea), a company born from KAUST’s research efforts.
Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates were among the first countries to adopt the technology, Iyris Chairman John Keppler told CNN — hot, dry, resource-poor countries looking to curb their dependence on imports for fresh produce.
But since then, farmers in parts of the US, Latin America, Mexico, Europe, South Africa and Morocco have started installing SecondSky coverings. These are, says Keppler, countries that have historically benefited from a robust set of environmental characteristics that are rapidly changing: “It’s not even just future-proof, it’s also current; it’s writing an insurance policy,” he said.
Professor Mark Tester, Professor Derya Baran and Dr. Ryan Lefers, the co-founders of iyris. The company’s SecondSky greenhouse roofs have been installed in 15 countries since its founding. – Thanks to Iyris
After the hottest summer on record globally, this year will almost certainly be the warmest on record, according to Europe’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, with many extreme heat events happening around the world – events that are becoming increasingly possible due to man-made climate change.
These conditions put enormous pressure on agriculture. Heat spikes can dehydrate crops, killing them outright if not mitigated, or stress crops, making them more vulnerable to pests and diseases. Avoiding declines in crop yields typically requires greater energy input – more water, more cooling, more fertilizer – resources that may be depleted or simply unavailable.
“The mission of this company is to enable sustainable agriculture, and we are making very important progress on a very difficult challenge,” said Keppler. “The sooner we can deliver ready-made solutions for regular agriculture, the better off we will be.”
Iyris has integrated SecondSky into flexible polyfilm, which is used for polytunnels, plastic sheeting for rigid greenhouses and nets.
Polyfilm is typically replaced every three to five years, Keppler says, and can be easily replaced. Iyris says that unlike some traditional heat blocking interventions, such as applying white chalk to plastic wrap, the additive does not negatively impact the life of the plastic.
The company works with plastic manufacturers such as SABIC in Saudi Arabia, Hyma Plastic in Egypt and Armando Alvarez in Spain to manufacture and distribute coatings containing the heat-blocking additive. To date, it says 4.5 million square meters of its materials have been sold. .
Vincent Martin, director of the Office of Innovation at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, told CNN via email that “in recent years, a number of agritech startups have emerged to address regional food production challenges particularly by investing in protected agriculture.”
These companies are “adapting to the reality of extreme heat through innovations in resilient crops, controlled environments, smart irrigation and renewable energy. However, scaling up these solutions to reach smallholder farmers and addressing cost barriers are critical to broader adaptation.
“Continued investments in research, infrastructure, policy and farmer education will be critical,” he added.
Homegrown solutions for growing at home
While Iyris has set its sights on the global market (it received $16 million in Series A fundraising earlier this year), SecondSky is helping to redefine what’s possible in agriculture closer to home.
In Saudi Arabia, the National Food Production Initiative, a partnership with Iyris and regenerative tourism developer Red Sea Global, has created a 0.75-hectare farm on unproductive land in Bada, in the country’s northwest, a subtropical desert where summer temperatures average just below 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit).
A prototype farm in Bada, Saudi Arabia uses SecondSky in polyethylene greenhouse covers manufactured by SABIC. The company says its TRUCIRCLE polyethylene can be recycled. – Thanks to SABIC
The project, announced in October, integrates multiple domestic agritech solutions, including SecondSky, to grow crops such as tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and herbs, which are supplied to Red Sea Global resorts.
“(We) prove these incredibly innovative results in the toughest environments on earth,” said Keppler.
The farm in Bada has prompted a local cooperative to replicate the model, he added.
The use of unproductive land and preventing land from becoming unproductive will receive increasing attention as the century progresses. Desertification is a pressing issue and was the focus of the COP16 of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in December, as leaders try to contain a growing problem. According to the United Nations, at least 100 million hectares of healthy land is lost worldwide every year – the equivalent of four football fields of healthy land is degraded every second.
For example, in Saudi Arabia, where less than 1% of the land is considered arable, water requirements for growing crops can be three times the global average, and the kingdom’s aquifers, a major source of water for agriculture, off. extracted at higher rates than they are replenished.
“Agritech and sustainable agricultural practices can play a critical role in combating or reversing desertification,” says Martin, through issues such as sustainable land management, innovations in water management, the development of resilient crops and soil restoration techniques.
He added that switching, to some extent, from open field production to protected agriculture could save a significant amount of water, and that greenhouses in warm climates are “particularly suited to offset the effects of climate change” because growers can factor in factors such as temperature and humidity.
“Greenhouses can produce up to five times the land productivity and seven times the water productivity of open agricultural lands,” Martin said.
Leaving more natural resources untouched can only be a good thing; also lowering the requirements to make marginal land arable.
“What you have to do is be able to create an environment where you reduce the environmental stressors that enable the use of that land,” Keppler said. “And that’s what products like SecondSky do.”
With sales increasing according to Iyris and plans to integrate SecondSky into a wider range of products by 2025, the company hopes that beating the heat in greenhouses around the world can help us beat the heat outside too.
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