iyris helps Saudi airline to source local food and boost eco-ambitions

Sustainable food grown under the iyris™ SecondSky™ in Saudi Arabia is taking to the real sky under a new deal to feed passengers on the country’s national airline.

Creator of iyris, RedSea will be supplying food grown from it’s Red Sea Farms in Saudi Arabia to Saudia, the national flag carrier for the Kingdom.

The deal will help to boost the airline’s environmental credentials by feeding guests with sustainable, locally-sourced foods which slashed food miles by cutting its reliance on imported foods.

Plus, as the food is produced under iyris™ SecondSky™, the environmental credentials are boosted further as the technology ensures growers can use significantly less water and energy, and also scale back their use of crop inputs without sacrificing yields.

iyris™ SecondSky™ roofs cut peak temperatures inside the greenhouse using its advanced nanotechnology heat-blocking material which is transparent to light and absorbent to heat.

It is proven to save energy and water while increasing yields and also helping to extend the growing season, ensuring airline passengers can be fed with locally sourced produce year round.

Managing director of RedSea, Simon Bryant, says: “Saudia is aiming to become an industry leader in terms of sustainability and food grown under the iyris™ SecondSky™ locally in the Kingdom will play a key role in their efforts to improve environmental performance.

“iyris is revolutionising growing in hot climates like Saudi Arabia by ensuring growers can produce food in a sustainable way. By reducing peak temperatures, they make significant savings in water and energy use but can continue to provide food security for an ambitious and growing region of the world.”

iyris™ SecondSky™ is an award-winning replacement roof for greenhouses that blocks peak heat. The benefits include: significant reductions in energy use; substantial water and fertigation savings; a longer growing season; improved plant health and bigger yields.

The roofing and net technology cuts peak temperatures inside the greenhouse using advanced nanotechnology heat-blocking material which is transparent to light and absorbent to heat.

Under iyris™ SecondSky™, plants are better protected from the harmful heat of the sun (NIR). This puts the plants under much less stress, which can reduce the transpiration rate of the plants, creating healthier growth and better tasting and more prolific crops.

Providing crops with the correct levels of photosynthetic light (PAR)  to optimize growth and yield.

To learn more about iyris, visit the website www.iyris.ag