Aid Awni Abu Ramadan is a Palestinian engineer who studied civil engineering in the United States. But Abu Ramadan is now working as a farmer, as he inherited his love for the land and agriculture from his parents and grandparents and owns a farm in the city of Beit Hanoun.
Abu Ramadan says, "I wantedto introduce new fruits and vegetables, and exploring new types of tropical fruits that were not produced in Palestine, such as dragon fruit, passiflora, prickly cactus, and some aromatic plants."
Abu Ramadan uses sustainable and intensive farming methods as well as vertical farming techniques in order to maximize agricultural production. These environmentally friendly technologies allow him to use renewable energy and reuse water and agricultural waste.
"I established the first vertical strawberry farm in Palestine," he said. “It produces the same amount of strawberries but uses only 10% of the water, fertilizer and pesticides used in conventional strawberry farming.”
Abu Ramadan is also trying new technologies to produce out-of-season fruits and vegetables. He says: "I want my farm to be a model for all Palestinian farmers to maximize local products and enable us to challenge the many difficulties we face due to the blockade imposed by Israel"
