The UAE heavily depends on food imports to satisfy a rising population, as more expats are attracted by its robust tech infrastructure and smart services. In its quest to ensure food security, the country has gone beyond measures like cloud seeding and is experimenting with methods like zapping clouds with electricity to get more rains, while it tries to make desert soil fertile via nano-clay.

The Emirates is home to climate controlled farms for growing green vegetables, and has also laid the foundation for facilities where the livestock's health is monitored by smart capsules. But a major milestone in Abu Dhabi's plan to make the desert green is just round the corner, and the city will soon be home to the world's largest indoor farm, equipped with computer vision and robots.

AeroFarms' vertical farming project will unlock research facilities for 60 engineers, horticulturalists and scientists, to work on innovation for scaling up agricultural production. Apart from a lab for developing computer vision to monitor the health and water levels in crops, the unit will provide space for phenotyping.

The process of phenotyping is meant to study genetics of plants, in order to develop new species of crops suited for different climatic conditions. Experts will also work on analysing phytochemicals, which are substances that indicate the nutritional breakdown in fruits.

Robotics and drones will be developed at AeroFarms' massive facility, to provide eyes to the computer vision, that'll facilitate AI-powered monitoring. The vertical farm will also be equipped with tech to control light exposure and other factors, to explore speed breeding, that can ensure supply of crops throughout the year.

This smart farm won't just boost agricultural production, but will cultivate local agritech talent via collaboration with universities.

Currently the UAE has opened up to products like sprayable clay to trigger a green revolution in the dry climate, and the use of smart drones for planting trees.

To add to this, startups from different parts of the region have pitched products like aerial vehicles that can track and control cattle.