An ultra-modern vertical farm in the middle of the desert stands as a testament to Dubai’s determination to spark a “green revolution” to overcome its dependence on food imports.
Al-Badia market garden farm produces an array of vegetable crops in multi-storey format, carefully controlling light and irrigation as well as recycling 90 percent of the water it uses.
“It’s a green revolution in the middle of the desert,” the farm’s director Basel Jammal tells AFP.
“Each plant is given the amount of light, humidity, heat and water it needs. It’s as if it were a guest in a five-star hotel,” he says.
The COVID-19 pandemic, which disrupted global supply chains, has refocused attention on food security in the United Arab Emirates.
The UAE is rich in oil and ingenuity, but has little arable land and endures dry, baking summers.
That was not an issue decades ago when the area was sparsely inhabited by Bedouins.