Abu Dhabi:The Mohamed bin Zayed Water Initiative is advancing trials of innovative agricultural solutions aimed at boosting food production with reduced water usage. These technologies enhance plants' biological processes and resilience to harsh environmental conditions, and they are now being tested under local conditions in the UAE.
According to Emirates News Agency, Egypt's Agri-Vit and Brazil's Krilltech are among the finalists in the Al Miyah Challenge for Agriculture. This is part of the Initiative's Al Miyah Challenge programme, which seeks scalable solutions to reduce agricultural water consumption while maintaining or improving crop yields in water-stressed regions.
Agri-Vit has developed a technology called Agri-Vit Green, which uses natural plant-derived compounds as a foliar treatment to enhance plant growth and adaptation to drought, heat, and salinity. This technology has been tested in Egypt, showing significant water savings and increased productivity in various crops such as mint and spinach. Meanwhile, Krilltech's Arbolina product uses carbon nanoparticles to improve photosynthesis and water conversion, and it has shown promising results in Brazil with various crops, including common beans.
The trials being conducted in the UAE aim to assess whether these technologies can achieve similar water savings and yield maintenance in local conditions. Final results will be determined through independent evaluations by Silal at the Silal Innovation Oasis in Al Ain. Krilltech is also exploring partnerships in the UAE to further adapt its technologies to the region's extreme environmental conditions.
