S06 - Session P17 - Controlled environment agriculture in UAE: current state and future trends

Authors: Hicham Fatnassi *, Rashyd Zaaboul, Ali Albattay, Francisco Domingo Molina Aiz, Diego Luis Valera

Food security is a top priority for sovereign nations. Food production is an integral part of food security and is challenged in arid regions by freshwater scarcity and high temperatures. Further, arid regions are increasingly under threat from climate change which has major implications for agriculture. Climate change's impact on food security has already been observed through reduced yield of staple crops (IPCC, 2014). The IPCC anticipates, with high confidence, key risks for arid environments. These include increased drought, compounded water scarcity, reduced crop productivity and adverse effects on household livelihood and food security (IPCC, 2014). UAE's economic and political stability create a stable environment for food security. However, the country faces significant challenges with food production. Currently, around 90% of food is imported. Less than 5% of land is arable and water scarcity remains a pressing issue (UAE Government, 2021). The Abu Dhabi Global Environmental Data Initiative (AGEDI) reported in 2015 that open-field and traditional farming systems will be negatively impacted by the increase in temperature in the future. AGEDI emphasized on the importance of technology and innovation not only in optimizing production and yield from traditional farming but also in the advancement of alternative agriculture methods including Controlled Environment Agriculture. Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) systems provide solutions for food production where the natural environment is unconducive to producing high yields in open-field settings. This is especially important in arid environments with harsh environmental conditions and water scarcity. The downside to this type of production are the high energy requirements to maintain optimal conditions. CEA systems involve creating artificial conditions within a protected area to provide the optimal environment to produce plants. High- tech greenhouses can provide a much higher yield with significantly lower water requirements. Yet water and energy requirements to maintain conditions are high and freshwater is limited in this region. This type of agriculture could potentially become a prominent solution, particularly in the UAE, yet solutions to reduce inputs are required. In this study, we will present an overview of the current state of protected agriculture in the UAE and future developments. We will focus on the constraints and technological solutions to ensure year-round production under arid climate with less water and energy use. Geomatic techniques relying on high spatial resolution earth observation satellite and UAS imagery will be used to retrieve actual CEA map. Geospatial analysis helps to understand the CEA spatial distribution pattern and guide socio-economic surveys.