Abu Dhabi's ADQ to focus on vegetable gene editing as it seeks stake in seeds company

Seed innovation seen as crucial to expanding desert agriculture

Photo: Silal

ADQ, Abu Dhabi's wealth fund, plans to acquire a 35 per cent stake in France's Limagrain Vegetable Seeds as the UAE enters a research-intensive phase to transform farming and reduce reliance on food imports.

As part of the deal, ADQ's agritech company Silal and Limagrain Vegetable Seeds plan to establish a research and development partnership to create a joint venture focused on desert-adapted vegetable genetics.

The venture will focus on developing vegetable seeds suited to extreme heat, drought and salinity conditions, ADQ said.

The UAE imports between 80 and 90 per cent of its food, one of the highest rates globally, according to the World Economic Forum.

The country's National Food Security Strategy 2051 sets the deadline for producing 50 per cent of food locally.

The financial details of the deal, which is subject to regulatory approval, were not disclosed.

Long-term R&D

"This is very much in a research and development phase right now," said Gil Adotevi, group chief investment officer at ADQ.

"There's a closure period that will take us easily to the end of the year. That's when the deal is effectively consummated and when we become an investor in the company. We expect to start seeing it [on farms] a year to a couple of years after that," he told The National.

The research and development will take place at Silal's Innovation Oasis in Al Ain in collaboration with Limagrain Vegetable Seeds' global experts.

The process will include screening, controlled trials and field performance testing under UAE-specific environmental conditions.

"Collaboration with local farmers will begin once a suitable, high-performing seed variety is identified and ready for commercialisation," Mr Adotevi said.

Silal supports farmers by aggregating produce to negotiate better commercial terms with supermarkets, and by offering technology and solutions, including commercially sourced seeds, soil enhancement and water-saving measures, he said.

The project will initially focus on crops such as cucumbers, tomatoes and melons, using gene selection and editing techniques, rather than genetic modification, to enhance desirable traits.

"This is not genetic modification," Mr Adotevi said. "It's mainly about selecting, finding and editing genes that bring certain traits out. So we're not creating something new here."

Why seed innovation matters

The UAE grapples with some of the harshest farming conditions in the world.

"The UAE and the wider Gulf region contend with a range of environmental factors that shape their approach to food production, including limited arable land, an arid climate with high temperatures and evapotranspiration rates, elevated soil salinity, and decreasing freshwater resources," Antonios Vouloudis, senior director of sustainability and stewardship at NYU Abu Dhabi, told The National.

Agriculture consumes around 60 per cent of the UAE's water supply, but meets only a fraction of the country's food demand, according to the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure.

In some areas, groundwater reserves, which farmers rely on for irrigation, are declining by about one metre annually.

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While the UAE has made significant investment in vertical farming and hydroponics, seed innovation is viewed as crucial to expanding traditional agriculture in the desert, Mr Vouloudis said.

"It focuses on developing varieties resilient to heat, drought and salinity, which is essential for expanding food security beyond niche produce and complementing controlled environment agriculture approaches."

Impact beyond the UAE

Better seeds could help lower production costs and ultimately benefit consumers, says Mr Adotevi.

"For the same piece of land, instead of producing 100kg of something, you end up producing 200kg," he said.

"That means your cost comes down, and it translates into a lower cost of fruit and vegetables to the local economy."

The benefits could extend beyond national borders. "We do expect that what we develop today here will have a great impact in the world. Africa, the Middle East, Asia, southern Europe and Central America: these are all areas that are experiencing water stress and heat conditions similar to what we have today," Mr Adotevi said.

Mr Vouloudis added that the UAE's agritech system is designed for "the testing, scaling, and export of desert-farming innovations to other arid regions globally", particularly across Mena, Central Asia and Africa.

The UAE's ambitions echo initiatives elsewhere. In Jordan and Qatar, the Sahara Forest Project, launched in 2011 by Norwegian non-profit The Bellona Foundation, has combined seawater-cooled greenhouses with renewable energy to produce vegetables in arid environments and restore degraded land.

In Oman, seawater greenhouse systems, tested since the early 2000s, have demonstrated at pilot scale the ability to produce fresh water and grow crops such as tomatoes and cucumbers in desert conditions.

"We're going to see a lot more technology, a lot more precision agriculture 20 years from now, and that's what we're investing in," Mr Adotevi said.