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AeroFarms AgX’s Indoor Vertical Farm In Abu Dhabi | |
| Sumita Pawar |
According to the report, AeroFarms, a Certified B Corporation and world leader in indoor vertical farming, officially unveiled AeroFarms AgX, its newest cutting-edge indoor vertical farm.
focused on bringing innovative research and development (R&D) to the UAE and the Middle East.
AeroFarms AgX is advancing sustainable controlled environment agriculture (CEA) and indoor vertical farming to help address a broader global agriculture supply chain challenge, as highlighted in the report.
The world's premier, state-of-the-art R&D indoor vertical farm is focused on the latest developments for indoor vertical farming, innovation, and AgTech.
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The facility is supported by the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) as part of its goal to create sustainable investment opportunities to further next-generation agriculture in arid and desert environments.
At 65,000 square feet, AeroFarms AgX is the largest indoor vertical farm of its kind for research and development in the world, stated the report, leading the way in breakthrough innovations to solve some of the world’s most pressing agriculture challenges.
AeroFarms AgX has already made several key hires locally and will employ over 60 highly skilled engineers, horticulturists, and scientists for its high-tech laboratories conducting organoleptic research and precision phenotyping, phytochemical analysis, as well as research on next-generation machine vision, machine learning, robotics, and automation.
According to the report, AeroFarms AgX plays an important role in Abu Dhabi's AgTech ecosystem by collaborating with local companies and universities on research projects to address agricultural problems in desert and arid climates.
According to the report, the ribbon cutting and grand opening began with a keynote address by Mariam bint Mohammed Almheiri, Minister of Climate Change and the Environment, and included the signing of a collaboration agreement with Silal. It concluded with an inaugural bite of greens, led by David Rosenberg, Co-Founder and CEO of AeroFarms, and a tour of the leading R&D projects happening at AeroFarms AgX.
David Rosenberg, Co-Founder and CEO of AeroFarms, said, "AeroFarms has been expanding globally for both our commercial and R&D indoor vertical farms, leveraging our growing expertise and proprietary technology platform that can help solve a broader array of agricultural challenges." "We are incredibly proud of the amazing international turnout and support at the highest levels for our Grand Opening of AeroFarms AgX, and our ongoing partnership with ADIO reflects our bigger commitment to help transform agriculture, accelerate innovation cycles, and commercialise new products for the region and the world."
Acting ADIO Director-General Abdulla Abdul Aziz Al Shamsi said, "Abu Dhabi has made it a priority to develop technological solutions that help the economy of the region and the world as a whole." "AgTech fits right into this category."
"ADIO’s mission is to help innovative companies like AeroFarms start, scale, and succeed in Abu Dhabi by providing access to the emirate’s innovation ecosystem and infrastructure." "We're excited for AeroFarms to start the next phase of its journey and contribute to solving global agriculture challenges from its advanced facility in the UAE capital."
As further mentioned in the report, one of the goals for AeroFarms AgX is to be a hub of innovation, bringing together key strategic partners like Cargill and the Foundation for Food & Agriculture (FFAR) Precision Indoor Plants (PIP) Consortium for R&D collaboration. In order to do this, AeroFarms and Silal signed a formal agreement to work together. This built on the earlier exploratory work done under a Memorandum of Understanding.
David Rosenberg, who helped start AeroFarms and is now its CEO, and Salmeen Obaid Alameri, who is the CEO of Silal, both took part in the signing.
The collaboration is expected to focus on improving the genetics and seedling quality of vegetable and fruit varieties to make them more resilient and tolerant to extreme growing conditions. The establishment, growth, and yield of a crop depend on the quality of the seedlings.
The partnership will also focus on evaluating and testing crops that have high consumer demand, including tomatoes and peppers. The report says that the trials and experiments on the crops will be done at AeroFarms AgX.
It added that AeroFarms will also be hosting its 2nd Annual AeroFarms AgTech Innovation Summit at the Rosewood Hotel in Abu Dhabi on February 16, 2023, bringing together over 24 speakers and over 750 participants from over 60 different countries to discuss the future of food and agriculture.