Ashraf AboArafe
An Omani student team comprising Salsabil bint Yaqoub Al Sheediyya, Nouf bint Rashid Al Kalbaniyah, Kholoud bint Khalfan Al Olaya, Jawaher bint Salim Al Khasibia, Rawan bint Rashid Al Shukailiyyah, and Shahla bint Saeed Al Habariyya, was able to create an environmentally friendly product that preserves soil moisture, consisting of elements Important nutrients for the plant and materials that balance the imbalances that may occur to the soil or the plant with super absorbent materials to conserve water and maintain soil moisture.
Kholoud bint Khalfan Al-Olayan said that the product has a number of advantages represented in its superior ability to absorb and retain water to make the soil medium moist and suitable for plants.
She added that the irrigation of plants with the presence of the product will be only once a week, as it works like a water sponge in addition to its effective ability to fight bacteria and parasites that may occur due to moisture and supports plants from any imbalances that may occur, and this product is used for agricultural fields, whether with soil or agriculture. water and solve the problem of wasting water.
And she indicated that the idea of the product came from the reality of interest in the agricultural aspect in the community, where those who practice agriculture suffer from problems of water scarcity and lack of water sources as a result of the lack of rain that causes a decrease in the water level, whether in water or underground channels, which negatively affects the irrigation operations of farms and the consumption of electrical energy using pumping equipment. water.
She stated that the student company / Estidama / affiliated with the German University of Technology, had purchased the raw materials for the product from the manufacturers of these materials and conducted a chemical equation under studied conditions to find out the appropriate amount of each substance until we proved the effectiveness of the product and guaranteed its quality by 100 percent, indicating that among the challenges What we faced was the unavailability of raw materials in the Sultanate of Oman and the search for suppliers to import the materials that make up the product, in addition to the different prices of suppliers.
And she stated that Estidama sought to transform the idea into a consumable product with a brand and to obtain intellectual property from the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion, and there is a step towards marketing the product to reach the largest possible segment of customers by finding different marketing strategies that support traditional and electronic marketing to reach consumers.
She pointed out that the Estidama company is currently working on a plan to test the product throughout the agricultural seasons, and has concluded agreements with various institutions and bodies interested in the agricultural field at the level of the government and private sectors. She stated that the company seeks clear excellence in agricultural development at the local and regional levels, and even reaching the global level so that our product is an important part in the agricultural field to reduce the depletion of water resources and achieve better and higher productivity.
