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SHARJAH, United Arab Emirates, Feb 15 (Reuters) – Eight green circles stand out against the desert backdrop of Sharjah, as the United Arab Emirates grows wheat to improve food security in the arid country, where about 90 percent of its food comes from. Rely on imports.
The government is launching a 400-hectare farm in Mleiha in 2022, irrigated with desalinated water, as damage from war and the pandemic heightens concerns about a lack of arable land in the UAE.
“What has driven wheat cultivation over the past few years due to the COVID pandemic and the Ukraine-Russia war have been supply chain issues,” Khalifa Alteneiji, chairman of Sharjah’s Agriculture and Livestock Ministry, told Reuters.
The seven-emirate United Arab Emirates imported 1.7 million tonnes of wheat in 2022, with Sharjah importing 330,000 tonnes, government data showed.
The Mleiha farm’s contribution is expected to be around 1,600 tonnes per year, a step towards the Gulf oil producer’s larger ambitions to increase agriculture.
Energy costs to produce the 18,000 cubic meters of desalinated water needed for irrigation each day will be proportionally reduced as the project scales up, officials said.
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[1/5] Wheat is pictured at the newly launched 400-hectare farm in Mleiha, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, on February 08, 2023. mouth. Reuters/Rula Rouhana
“The cost of this (desalinated) water and end product is expected to be similar to the market,” Alteneiji said.
Finally, UAE plans to host COP28 climate conference this year food production Recycle water and minimize waste.
The Mleiha farm, which does not use pesticides, chemicals or genetically modified seeds, plans to expand to 1,400 hectares by 2025 and eventually 1,900 hectares.
The farm uses artificial intelligence and thermal imaging to gather weather and soil data to adjust irrigation rates and monitor growth.
“This is a special agricultural platform that can help determine the amount of irrigation that has been done and plan the amount of irrigation for the next few days,” said Agriculture Director Ibrahim Ramadan.
The project includes a two-hectare test field of 35 different types of wheat from around the world to explore compatibility with the UAE’s soil and weather.
Reporting by Abir Ahmar; Writing by Ghaida Ghantous; Editing by Barbara Lewis
Our standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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