Silal, Abu Dhabi’s new Agritech and fresh produce company, has reached an agreement with Red Sea Farms to apply advanced agritech solutions that help farmers grow crops in greenhouses, reducing water use by up to 95% and maximising sunlight.

His Excellency, Eng. Jamal Salem Al Dhaheri, CEO of Silal, and Ryan Lefers, Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer of Red Sea Farms signed the agreement at a ceremony on the sidelines of Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Security Week’s first edition, in which Silal is the Associate sponsor. The signing ceremony was attended by H.E. Saeed Al Bahri Salem Al Ameri, Director General of Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority, Mansour Al Mulla, Chairman of the Chief Investment Officer at ADQ, and Gil Adotevi, Executive Director of Food and Agriculture at ADQ.

As part of the agreement, Red Sea Farms will install their cooling systems in Silal’s contracted farms, to compare them with the current practice of cooling greenhouses and assess the benefits of Red Sea Farms’ technologies based on water and energy efficiency,yield improvement, climate control performance, and commercial viability. Global Ventures, a UAE-based venture capital firm and an investor in Red Sea Farms, is funding the project.

His Excellency, Eng. Jamal Salem Al Dhaheri, CEO of Silal said: “At Silal, we are keen to work with our partners and evaluate the latest agritech solutions to boost technology-enabled production of local fresh produce and reduce impact on natural resources such as water. Minimising dependence on freshwater to cool greenhouses remains one of the challenges facing farmers and crop growers in Abu Dhabi, and this agreement reiterates our commitment to empowering our contracted farmers and introducing them to the new technologies that increase their sustainability and profitability. We look forward to building a long-term partnership with Red Sea Farms to improve local farmers’ energy and water efficiency.”

Ryan Lefers, Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer of Red Sea Farms commented:“Red Sea Farms would like to congratulate Silal on being the first in the UAE to introduce our unique technology that has been designed and developed in the region. Water is a scarce resource in the region, and our approach which uses salt-water and maximises controlled use of sunlight makes farming more sustainable in the country. We are looking forward to this being the start of a valued and enduring partnership with Silal.”

This agreement comes as part of Silal’s efforts to expand collaborations that leverage technologies that help farmers improve sustainability and productivity. Under this agreement, Silal will use the full range of Red Sea Farms’ technologies, which have been specifically designed and developed in the region to enhance desert crop production in challenging environments like the UAE.