Farms in Abu Dhabi are producing more wheat per hectare than anywhere else in the region, the Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority has revealed.
Twenty varieties of wheat are produced in the emirate, at a rate of eight tonnes per hectare – well above the Arab world’s average of five tonnes.
The authority’s laboratories have carried out trials on 103 crops to test whether they can be adapted to local climatic conditions and are fit for commercial production, reported Al Ittihad, the Arabic-language sister paper of The National.
The trials were held in Al Salamat and Bani Yas with the aim of providing food security and strategic agricultural crops for the emirate, and creating sustainability in the agricultural sector.
Meanwhile, the Abu Dhabi Compost plant has signed an agreement with the authority and the Farmers Service Centre to provide 22,000 farms in the emirate with organic fertilisers and compost at half price.
With almost half of the emirate’s farms located in Al Ain and its suburbs, the fertiliser factory has opened four new distribution centres in the city to ensure deliveries to farms in the Abu Karba, Qafah, Ghamdh and Al Niyadat areas.
The plant’s total production has reached 150,000 tonnes per year of high-quality organic fertilisers in accordance with international specifications and standards set by the Ministry of Environment and Environment Authority Abu Dhabi. A fleet of 12 lorries distributes the fertiliser.
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