ABU DHABI: H.H. Sheikh Theyab bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Chairman of the Presidential Court for Development and Fallen Heroes’ Affairs, attended the latest Majlis Mohamed bin Zayed lecture titled ‘Sustainable Agriculture at Scale’.
The lecture, which took place at the Majlis venue in Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, was delivered by Sebastien Boyer, Co-founder and Chairman of the agritech firm, FarmWise.
Over the course of his lecture, Boyer discussed the challenges faced by farmers today and how technological innovation will be vital to help the agricultural sector evolve and become more sustainable to feed the world’s growing population.
Boyer, whose company builds precise farming machinery that leverages AI and robotics to increase productivity and profitability, explained how agriculture hinges on the use and availability of four key resources: land, water, labour, and industrially produced fertilisers.
He then discussed the work of a number of startups employing cutting-edge techno
logy to reduce reliance on these resources, including companies producing self-driving electric tractors and lab-grown chicken meat.
Discussing the adoption of the latest agricultural technology, Boyer explained that many of these innovations are still prohibitively expensive or require further development to become cost-effective, meaning farmers are often reluctant to switch from their old methods.
He suggested that society has a role to play in helping large-scale adoption, saying, ‘We need to promote technology demand by promoting sustainability demand.’
The UAE continues to prioritise efforts to transform its agricultural sector as it aims to boost its food security while ensuring a sustainable and resilient future, with the country now being home to a growing number of agritech companies using innovative technology to produce locally grown food.
The lecture was moderated by Laila Abdullatif, Director-General, Emirates Nature-WWF, and featured pre-recorded contributions from Khaled Al Blooshi, Plant
Development Lead Engineer, Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority, Maitha Al Hameli, Section Head, Marine Assessment and Conservation, Environment Agency-Abu Dhabi, and Sky Kurtz, Co-founder and CEO, Pure Harvest Smart Farms.
‘Sustainable Agriculture at Scale’ will be broadcast on Saturday, 18th May at 17:00 GST on local TV networks and will be available to watch afterwards on the Majlis Mohamed bin Zayed YouTube channel.
Source: Emirates News Agency