China smart agricultural technology grows in UAE

YINCHUAN - China is strengthening agricultural technology cooperation with Arab countries, including the United Arab Emirates (UAE), authorities have said.

On a big screen in the West China Electronic Business Co Ltd (WCEB), engineers are remote controlling a smart greenhouse system in Dubai to support the local date growing industry.

The company, located in Northwest China's Ningxia Hui autonomous region, is a pioneer in technology cooperation with Arab countries.

In recent years, the company has been transferring agricultural technologies to the UAE, Oman, Saudi Arabia and other Arab states.

Since 2015, the company has sent three groups of engineers to the UAE to conduct field research on the technology.

"Greenhouses in northern China are heaters, but in the UAE they are cooling systems," said Han Tao, one of the project managers.

To provide tomatoes and melons with a better growing environment in Dubai, Han has brought the company's intelligent greenhouse management system.

"Dubai is arid, and our intelligent greenhouse can analyze and adjust humidity, carbon dioxide density and illumination intensity inside the greenhouse to ensure the best growing environment," Han said.

The company currently has 141 intelligent greenhouses installed in Dubai, helping solve problems such as labor shortages too.

"Our product is cost-effective, and it's a good start for technology cooperation between China and Arab countries," said Wang Zheng, chief technology officer of the WCEB.

Besides the greenhouse system, China has also introduced a water-saving system in Abu Dhabi in 2017. "We manage to let every drop of water there count," Han said.

In 2015, WCEB engineers and experts from Ningxia University were invited to Dubai to build an experimental intelligent irrigation system in parks growing dates.

Growing dates in the open air results in a lack of irrigation or waste of water, but intelligent irrigation systems help avoid this while improving output and saving manpower.

The project has received acknowledgement from the local agricultural authority.

"Bringing Ningxia's agricultural technology to Arab countries is a long term strategy, and we keep innovating to best combine the technology with the local situation," Han said.

To deepen cooperation with Arab countries, China in 2015, established a China Arab States Technology Transfer Center in Yinchuan, capital of Ningxia, with five sub-centers in different Arab countries.

"We hope more Arab partners will know about our technological solutions and benefit from them," Wang said.