Agriculture

Dates represent Abu Dhabi’s most important commercial crop and agricultural export, with 99,136 tonnes produced in 2013, an increase from 80,461 tonnes a year earlier. Authorities are also encouraging the development of aquaculture as an alternative to fishing, with this segment seeing increased investment as new fish farms start to open in the emirate. Meanwhile the Abu Dhabi Farmers Services Centre, set up in 2009, aims to develop a sustainable agricultural industry and is expected to launch a project based on soil-free farming, which can offer water savings of up to 70%. Moving forward a food products and processing industry cluster at Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi will enable firms to bring agricultural goods to market, with large facilities set to open in the cluster, including several processing plants and a ready-meals factory.