11,500m2 greenhouse complex proposed

A massive greenhouse complex covering approximately 11,500m2 – the size of a football pitch and a half – is being proposed at Fiddien in Rabat.

The greenhouses will have a maximum height of 3.5 metres.

The project involves a clear trade off between land use and landscape considerations and environmental benefits in energy and water conservation.

The complex, which has been exempted from conducting an environment impact assessment, will be developed on a plot of land of 28,000 square metres. 

The roofs of the greenhouses would be solar panels, which would produce energy for the national grid.

According to its proponents the aim is to produce fully organic vegetables and fruits for the local market and potentially for export. The project also involves the construction of a 30 square metre sub-station and a 40 square metre tool room. It also includes an underground reservoir which would harvest the greenhouses’ run off rainwater.

The site abuts on the Chadwick Lakes and is located in a Level 3 area of ecological importance which serves as a buffer zone for the Wied ic-Cawsli valley system.

But a screening report to assess whether the project should be assessed in an environmental impact assessment concludes that no significant impacts are envisaged. The report states that the “development will be visually mitigated through an effective landscaping scheme around the site’s perimeter.”

A permit for 550m2 of greenhouses was approved in 2010.

The final aim of the project is to shift to aero-farming which would decrease water consumption to 10% of that used presently.

Aero-farming is the process of growing plants in an air or mist environment without the use of soil.