Korea sets up smart farm in UAE, envisions more projects in Middle East

South Korea is building a smart farm in the Middle East desert with technology enabling the growth of various crops while minimizing water consumption. The government aims to increase exports of the smart farm to the region based on technology and price competitiveness.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, the Rural Development Administration and the country’s top high-technology greenhouse company Green Plus Co. plan to complete the farm’s construction in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) next month. The South Korean government is set to hold a completion ceremony around Jan. 16, 2022, from which time it will begin operations.

The smart farm uses a fog cooling system South Korea developed that reduces water consumption and, using mist, maintains the temperature in the facility at optimal levels for cultivation, the ministry said.

The technology is expected to draw strong interest in the UAE that suffers from a water shortage. The Middle Eastern country, which has been increasing investment in the agricultural sector with its enormous financial power, is facing difficulties expanding farmland with annual precipitation of 42 millimeters (mm), a mere 3.5% of South Korea’s 1,200 mm, according to the ministry. The UAE has developed its own greenhouses, but they consume a lot of water, the ministry said.

HIGH TECHNOLOGY WITH LOW COSTS

“The K-smart farm is in the spotlight thanks to the high-technology and low costs,” said a ministry official, referring to the smart farm South Korea is setting up. The Netherlands developed a smart farm that solves issues on the water shortage, but it is too pricey, the official added.

A South Korea’s smart farm startup n.thing has been already exporting vertical smart farming containers to the UAE. The vertical smart farming containers downtown in the UAE are producing fresh vegetables.

“We are in talks to increase the supply of the containers,” said a local manager, who operates the vertical farm.

South Korea’s agricultural ministry aims to expand smart farms in the Middle East, based on its achievements in the UAE.

“We target the market adapted for the desert climate in the six countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC),” said the ministry official, referring to the regional, intergovernmental political and economic union that consists of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

The official said South Korea aims to win various project bids, including one for smart farm construction in a smart city in Kuwait.

Write to Jin-gyu Kang at josep@hankyung.com
Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.