TAIPEI (TVBS News) — As climate change brings about extreme weather, concerns of it fueling a global hunger crisis has led experts in the United Arab Emirate (UAE) to think three steps ahead.
In 2022, Dr. Sheikh Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, launched a "smart" wheat farm in Mleiha, Sharjah, marking a significant advancement in the country's pursuit of food self-sufficiency.
The farm aims to reduce the UAE's reliance on food imports, which currently stands at about 1.7 million tons of wheat annually.
Experts highlight the successful cultivation of wheat varieties adapted to the UAE's climate. From the initial 400 hectares to 1,400 hectares today, the farm uses desalinated water and a smart irrigation system with ground sensors and weather stations, which ensures precise irrigation, even under harsh conditions, requiring only a dozen workers for efficient management.
"Because we use the state-of-the-art technologies here, we were able to only use twenty workers on site, so you won’t see a lot of human intervention here," he explains.
More importantly, Alsuwaidi points out that the farm is able to save around 30 to 40 % of the water usage, which is about 3000 cubic meters per hectare, "which is a lot less than [...] anticipated.”
Abdelaziz Hassooni, head of the data gathering section of the Department of Agriculture and Livestock, explains, “We call technologies our “third eye, “where we have full 24/7 monitoring of the farm."
“We have the smart irrigation system that can be automatically scheduled. We can, for example, plan the next week's schedule for planting, and we can see if it is suitable for the pivot or not. If not, we can shift it,” he adds.
The farm's future plans include testing other crops and supporting local farmers with advanced tools and technologies. It aspires to serve as a model for desert agriculture, potentially guiding other regions in similar endeavors.
