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UAE: Region's first indoor vertical strawberry farm to come up in Abu Dhabi

The project, with an investment of Dh500 million, is the first of five farms planned in the next five years

Published: Thu 29 Aug 2024, 9:05 PM

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Photos: Supplied

Photos: Supplied

Come winter, a 7,500sqm indoor vertical strawberry farm – a first-of-its-kind in the region – will start taking shape in Abu Dhabi to bolster sustainable agriculture and local production in the country.

Last month, Abu Dhabi-headquartered Mawarid, a subsidiary of Alpha Dhabi Holding, entered into a partnership with California-based farming firm Plenty, to establish the world’s first vertical strawberry farm outside North America.

Kashif Shamsi, Group CEO of Mawarid, highlighted that the joint venture seeks to advance food security in the UAE and region through cutting-edge technology.

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“This joint venture [with Plenty] enables us to leverage the most advanced farming technology in the world to grow local food supply throughout the GCC, beginning with our home market in Abu Dhabi.

The Mawarid team has extensive expertise with agriculture and land management in the Emirates as well as bringing various forms of Agtech to these resources,” Shamsi told Khaleej Times.

The Abu Dhabi project, with an investment of Dh500 million, is the first of the five farms planned in the next five years.

“Construction on the Abu Dhabi strawberry farm is expected to begin this winter. We are exploring opportunities throughout the rest of the GCC for the additional farms.”

The farm is expected to grow more than 2 million kg of strawberries annually. While initially, the focus will be solely on strawberries, there is potential to grow a variety of crops in future phases.

“The decision to produce strawberries here in the UAE arose from the combination of the market demand here matched with the premium product that Plenty can uniquely produce year-round based on years of testing and research. For our first farm in Abu Dhabi, we will be focusing on strawberries. We’ll determine the crops for future farms based on market demand and opportunity.”

The farm will utilise advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, custom hardware, LED lighting, and proprietary software to optimise growing conditions and enhance flavour and quality.

Job creation, economic impact

Shamsi noted the project will create numerous job opportunities across positions needed to support all functions in the farm, including management, operations, production, maintenance, and quality.

“We anticipate approximately 100 direct jobs will be created for each farm. As we develop a network of farms in the GCC, we expect that the indirect number of jobs to be created with our supply chain and distribution partners to be in the thousands.”

Sustainability, local benefits

Shamsi said that vertical farming technology offers significant environmental advantages, including “99 per cent less land use and up to 90 per cent less water” consumption compared to traditional farming.

“Plenty’s indoor vertical farms can grow produce with peak-season flavour almost anywhere in the world year-round, creating a stable, local fresh food supply even in areas with limited arable land or fresh water.”

He pointed out that vertical farming supports the UAE’s food security and sustainability goals and ensures a stable, year-round supply of fresh produce with reduced transportation emissions.

“Today, year-round demand for fresh produce like strawberries is typically met by shipping them around the world from wherever they’re in season. Placing vertical farms near urban centres lowers transportation emissions, CO2 footprint and increases food freshness,” Shamsi said and pointed out that with such initiatives, the local market will be able to purchase premium strawberries with peak-season flavour grown locally year-round.

“On a national level, this Agtech helps support the UAE’s National Food Security Strategy 2051 and the newly launched Agrifood Growth and Water Abundance cluster (AGWA).”

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