- Home
- Middle East
- UAE
- ADIO to invest US$100 million in four global AgTech to develop next generation agriculture
ADIO To Invest US$100 Million In Four Global AgTech To Develop Next Generation Agriculture
Fahad Shabbir (@FahadShabbir) Published April 09, 2020 | 03:15 PM
ABU DHABI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 09th Apr, 2020) Four agriculture technology (AgTech) pioneers will build new facilities in Abu Dhabi dedicated to developing next generation agriculture in arid and desert agriculture.
The Abu Dhabi Investment Office, ADIO, has partnered individually with AeroFarms, Madar Farms, RNZ and Responsive Drip Irrigation, RDI. The partnership will establish new R&D and production facilities in the emirate, turning sand into farmland, solving complex global agriculture challenges and expanding the profile of local food producers, ADIO said in a statement on Thursday.
ADIO will invest AED367 million (US$100 million) in total in the four companies to build facilities in Abu Dhabi, each tasked with solving regional and global challenges. The investment office launched a targeted incentive programme in 2019 to accelerate the growth of the emirate’s burgeoning (AgTech) ecosystem and promote innovation that is locally relevant and globally exportable.
AeroFarms will focus on next-generation genetic phenotyping and organoleptic research while also tackling the challenges of desert agriculture from its new 8,200-sqm R&D centre in Abu Dhabi. The centre will be the largest indoor vertical farm of its kind in the world and will employ a projected 60 plus highly skilled engineers, horticulturists and scientists.
Madar Farms, a home-grown UAE AgTech innovator, will build the world’s first commercial-scale indoor tomato farm using only LED lights in Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi, KIZAD. The company is also set to scale up the commercialisation of microgreen growing to help provide a consistent and predictable local food supply that responsibly uses the region's natural resources.
RDI is developing an innovative irrigation system to transform water usage in UAE agriculture and conducting research trials to increase crop yields in sandy soils and non-arable land.
While locally-based company RNZ will set up a state-of-the-art R&D centre to research, formulate and commercialise ‘agri-input’ solutions that will help to grow more with less.
The competitive ADIO packages of cash and non-cash incentives awarded to the companies include rebates of up to 75 percent on R&D expenditure upon commercialisation of new solutions developed in Abu Dhabi.
The packages are being dispersed as part of ADIO’s AED1 billion (US$272 million) AgTech Incentive Programme, established a year ago under the Abu Dhabi Government’s Ghadan 21 Accelerator Programme that is focusing on economic, knowledge and community development across the emirate.
Mohammed Ali Al Shorafa, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development, said, "Our Ghadan 21 accelerator programme was launched just over a year ago and already, we are seeing tremendous progress. Targeted initiatives, like ADIO’s AgTech Incentive Programme, foster innovation in the emirate to solve regional challenges and create highly skilled jobs."
To date, ADIO has allocated approximately 40 percent of the AgTech Incentive Programme funding in the first year of the three-year programme. The programme is open to local and international companies looking to establish and grow a presence in Abu Dhabi.
Dr. Tariq Bin Hendi, Director-General of ADIO, said, "Four global AgTech innovators are joining our mission to turn sand into farmland. In line with Abu Dhabi’s long-term vision to grow the sector, ADIO partners with companies that have innovation at the core to help ensure long-term success. Each of these companies will add to our already established agriculture ecosystem, and benefit from our plentiful land, natural heat, competitive energy prices and access to research universities and skilled talent."
Related Topics
Recent Stories
PM calls for joint efforts to check smuggling, power theft
Infinix Unveils a Vibrant New Chapter with Wahaj Ali: The face of Infinix NOTE 4 ..
PM makes two more appointments in his team
Terrorists of Shangla suicide attack will be brought to justice: Interior Minist ..
Applications Open for 6th Cycle of Start-up Incubation under the National Expans ..
Join vivo's "Light it Up" Social Media Contest in Ramadan to Win vivo V30 5G
Pakistan v New Zealand T20I series: Tickets to go on sale from today
Currency Rate In Pakistan - Dollar, Euro, Pound, Riyal Rates On 29 March 2024
Today Gold Rate in Pakistan 29 March 2024
Journalists call for global action to end Gaza’s humanitarian crisis
CM for generating opportunities to bring direct int'l investment
Pakistan retains position in FTSE secondary emerging market
More Stories From Middle East
-
UAE announces ‘Zero Bureaucracy Program’ to reduce bureaucracy
2 months ago -
COP28 President-Designate welcomes Transitional Committee agreement to operationalise Loss and Damag ..
5 months ago -
Global Media Congress 2023 to feature Co-Production Majlis as a new networking platform
5 months ago -
Young female athletes shine at Abu Dhabi World Youth Jiu-Jitsu Championship
5 months ago -
King of Jordan receives Abdullah bin Zayed and ministers participating in Arab coordination meeting
5 months ago -
Abdullah bin Zayed participates in coordination meeting of Arab foreign ministers, joint meeting wit ..
5 months ago
-
3rd annual conference of Emirates Society of Clinical Microbiology kicks off in Dubai
5 months ago -
SIBF 2023 hosts Nobel laureate to discuss emergence of ‘Afrofuturism’ in global discourse
5 months ago -
ALC announces winners of Kanz Al Jeel Award 2023
5 months ago -
SIBF turns spotlight on remarkable contributions of women
5 months ago -
Global assets in spot bitcoin ETFs hit $4.16 billion
5 months ago -
Rescuers struggle to find Nepal quake survivors as deaths reach 157
5 months ago