AeroFarms debuts AgX indoor vertical farm in Abu Dhabi

US-based AeroFarms has officially unveiled its latest state-of-the-art R&D indoor vertical farm in Abu Dhabi.

At 65,000 square feet, AeroFarms AgX is the largest indoor vertical farm of its kind for research and development in the world.

The facility is supported by the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO), as part of its target to further next-generation agriculture in arid and desert environments, according to the state news agency, WAM.

Abdulla Abdul Aziz Al Shamsi, acting director-general of ADIO, stated, “ADIO’s mission is to help innovative companies like AeroFarms start, scale, and succeed in Abu Dhabi by providing access to the emirate’s innovation ecosystem and infrastructure.”

The indoor vertical farm will hire more than 60 highly skilled professionals such as engineers, horticulturists and scientists for its high-tech labs. The labs will carry out organoleptic research and precision phenotyping, phytochemical analysis, as well as research on next-generation machine vision, machine learning, robotics and automation.

The facility will collaborate with local companies and universities on research projects to tackle problems of agriculture in the desert and arid climates.

David Rosenberg, co-founder and CEO of AeroFarms, said,  the company has been expanding globally for both its commercial and R&D indoor vertical farms, leveraging its growing expertise and proprietary technology platform that can help solve a broader array of agricultural challenges.

“We are incredibly proud of the amazing international turnout and support at the highest levels for our Grand Opening of AeroFarms AgX, and our ongoing partnership with ADIO reflects our bigger commitment to help transform agriculture, accelerate innovating cycles, and commercialise new products for the region and the world,” he added.

The facility will bring together key strategic partners like Cargill and Foundation for Food & Agriculture (FFAR) Precision Indoor Plants (PIP) Consortium for R&D collaboration. To this end, AeroFarms has signed a formal collaboration agreement with Silal, advancing earlier exploratory work under a memorandum of understanding, reported WAM.

FFAR partner @AeroFarms debuts a new indoor growth chamber at the AgX facility in Abu Dhabi. This new R&D indoor vertical farm is focused on the latest developments for indoor vertical farming, innovation & #AgTech. pic.twitter.com/LhxQwKYcJU

— Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR) (@FoundationFAR) February 15, 2023

AeroFarms and Silal to collaborate

The collaboration is expected to focus on improving the genetics and seedling quality of vegetable and fruit varieties to become more resilient and tolerant to extreme growing conditions. The quality of a seedling is an essential factor for crop establishment, growth, and yield.

The partnership will also focus on evaluating and testing crops that have large consumer demand including tomatoes and peppers. The trials and experiments on the crops will be conducted at the facility.

Summit in Abu Dhabi

The company is also hosting its 2nd Annual AeroFarms AgTech Innovation Summit at the Rosewood Hotel in Abu Dhabi on February 16. The event features over 24 speakers and over 750 participants from over 60 different countries, discussing topics linked to the future of food and agriculture.

In recent news, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) has signed a joint venture agreement with AeroFarms.

Read: Saudi’s PIF partners with AeroFarms to build indoor vertical farms across MENA

The two entities will start a company in Riyadh to build and operate indoor vertical farms in Saudi Arabia and the broader Middle East and North Africa region.

The first farm in Saudi Arabia, which is expected to be the largest indoor vertical farm in the MENA region, will have an annual production capacity of up to 1.1 million kilogrammes of agricultural crops.

The partnership is also expected to enable sustainable, local sourcing of crops all year round, grown using AeroFarms’ proprietary smart agriculture technology platform. It will optimise the utilisation of natural resources, including water and agricultural lands, with no need for arable land.