KHAN YUNIS, Gaza Strip — Two years after graduating from the Faculty of Agriculture at Al-Azhar University in Gaza, Feras Bakri, 25, has built a small hydroponic unit to grow lettuce without using agricultural soil. By replacing traditional soil farming with hydroponic farming, he hopes to overcome the problems of soil contamination and the high salinity of irrigation water in the Gaza Strip.

Bakri’s hydroponic system is in a 1,600-square-foot greenhouse. There are 40-foot-long rafts lined up one over the other for optimal use of space. Before the start of cultivation, the greenhouse was sterilized with chlorine and a fungicide. The use of insecticides is not required in this type of agriculture.

Bakri told Al-Monitor, “A pipe passes through the rafts, stemming from the discharge reservoir. A pump supplies the rafts with the hydroponic nutrient solution. The solution contains the micronutrients and macronutrients needed for the growth of the seedlings. The excess solution is collected, its pH level is adjusted and it is put back in the reservoir for recirculation.”

Boasting about the advantages of the hydroponic system and how it solves farmers’ problems in Gaza, Bakri said, “Hydroponic farming does not consume large amounts of water. The lettuce I planted consumes only [a fraction] of the water quantity it would have needed if grown in soil.”