China’s ‘vegetable capital’ to test farming know-how in UAE’s harsh deserts

Shouguang, a city in eastern China known for its copious vegetable production, is building a 100,000-square-meter centre for smart agriculture in the harsh deserts of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to export the country’s technological advances in farming.

Leading UAE agritech firm Silal signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Shouguang Vegetable Industry Group on Monday to co-invest 120 million dirham (US$32.67 million) in the centre to transform desert farming in the Middle Eastern country, state news agency Xinhua reported.

The collaboration – part of a global outreach campaign by what is colloquially referred to as China’s “vegetable capital” – is another instance of Beijing exporting agricultural know-how to countries taking part in the Belt and Road Initiative, an infrastructure-driven strategy for regional connectivity.

The new facility will make use of cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence and robotics to enhance the efficiency and precision of seeding, climate control, irrigation and harvesting. It will support the cultivation of over 10 crop varieties, Xinhua said, including tomatoes, cucumbers, melons and strawberries.

“Abu Dhabi, as a frontier for agricultural technology innovation, offers a visionary platform and a real-world test bed for deploying advanced systems in extreme climates,” Yang Ming, founder of the group, was quoted as saying.

Silal CEO Saleem al-Ameri said the collaboration would serve as a model for agricultural innovation across the Persian Gulf, contributing to a scalable and sustainable framework for regional development.

South China Morning Post