Jan-Feb 2022 edition of Gulf Agriculture magazine

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

2022

Y O U R G AT E WAY T O T H E M I D D L E E A S T A G R I B U S I N E S S

20

VIV MEA Review

26 European Rice: enjoy it’s from Europe

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Growing in places with exceptionally high temperatures and water-scarcity

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Greening the desert

38

Chelated minerals, complexes and inorganic salts

W W W . R E S P O N S I V E D R I P . C O M I N F O @ R E S P O N S I V E D R I P . C O M

U S A + 1 ( 9 4 1 ) 7 9 2 9 7 8 8 U A E + 9 7 1 2 6 6 6 6 1 5 6

SWEET CORN TRIAL • RDI vs SDI ABU DHABI, UAE

SWEET CORN TRIAL TRANSFORMING THE DESERT CUCUMBER GREENHOUSE PROJECT ABU DHABI, UAE

GROWSTREAM HAS 25 NEW GREENHOUSES IN ABU DHABI

KALE GREENHOUSE • HYDROPONICS NIGERIA, AFRICA

RDI BENEFITS vs SDI + + + + + + + +

40-45% WATER SAVINGS HIGHER GRADE: 350-450 gm / ear 120% INCREASED YIELD 50% LESS FERTILIZER NO TILL & CROP ROTATION NO ENERGY CONSUMPITION NO ELECTRONICS OR FUEL LIMITED MAINTENANCE

TOMATO TRIAL • RDI BENEFITS vs SDI ABU DHABI, UAE

+ 33% WATER SAVINGS + 30% INCREASE CROP YIELD + 40% LESS FERTILIZER 1 WEEK EARLIER HARVESTING

STRAWBERRIES • VERTICAL FARMING CALIFORNIA, USA

ESQ AC COMBINED EQUIPMENT FOR THE DOUBLE LAYER WORKING: DEEP TILLAGE AND SURFACE CRUMBLING

WE ARE GROWING TO SERVE YOU

since 1976

26011 Casalbuttano (Cremona) - ITALY Via Giovanni Paolo II, 12 Tel. +39 0374 362680 · Fax +39 0374 362280

www.ma-ag.com · info@ma-ag.com

VORTEX PARALLEL DISC HARROWS WITH INDIPENDENT DISCS

We are delighted to announce the opening of our Middle East & Africa

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Regional Office in Dubai (United Arab Emirates). A clear choice allowing us to enhance customer responsiveness and instant service support for our partners and clients in the region.

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Contents Editor M. Matt Associate Editor Jessie Jorge Graphic Design Elizabeth John Contributors Dr. Hansel Geo Thomas Neville J. Chandler Shakeeb Kolakadan Registered Office Matt Media Intl. Ltd. 12 Gateway Mews London N11 2UT United Kingdom US Office Matt Media (USA) LLC. 1713 E. Morgan Court Gilbert, Arizona 85295 Middle East Offices Matt Media LLC. Sharjah Media City United Arab Emirates Al Saad Adv. & Publishing LLC P O Box 25694, Sharjah United Arab Emirates info@gulfagriculture.com www.gulfagriculture.com Gulf Agriculture is a publication from Matt Media Intl. Ltd. (UK) and is read by agri professionals, farm managers & owners, landscape consultants, contractors, agri-equipment suppliers, horticultural engineers, greenhouse managers, agronomists, veterinary surgeons, ministries, poultry & dairy breeders, importers, distributors, manufacturers and wholesalers of food and agri inputs.

24 News

04

Gulfood Preview

18

VIV MEA Review

20

Growtech Review

22

Vertical Farming

24

Press Trip to Greece

26

Biostimulants

29

26

All rights reserved. The opinions and views expressed in the publication are not necessarily those of the publishers.

Readers are requested to seek specialist advice before acting on information contained in this publication, which is provided for general use and may not be appropriate for the readers particular circumstances. The publishers regret that they cannot accept liabilities on any error or emissions contained in this publication.

Printed and published by Matt Media© Intl. Ltd.(U.K.) 2022

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38 Horticulture

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Planter Bags

32

Greenhouses 33

34

Irrigation

34

Agricultural Machinery

36

Feed Solutions

38

January-February 2022

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News DESERT CONTROL AND MAWARID ENTER INTO AGREEMENT TO FORM A NEW COMPANY Further to the results of the previously announced collaborative pilot, the Norwegian company Desert Control and the Abu Dhabi based Mawarid Holding Investment announced their decision to execute stage two of the previously signed MOU. The Parties will enter into a strategic partnership, under which the Parties will establish a new company. The new company is intended to be

named Mawarid Desert Control LLC ("MDC") a limited liability company incorporated in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi in UAE. Through this strategic partnership, Mawarid Holding Investment and Desert Control commonly join forces to leverage the competitive advantage and value proposition of Liquid Natural Clay ("LNC") along with Mawarid's global and regional network and substantial capabilities in the sectors of managing natural resources, forests, landscapes, and agriculture. The strategic partnership will promote and increase business for climate-

smart ecosystem management in the UAE and across the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA) through the new company. The partnership aims to drive accelerated adoption of sustainable products and services to create significant value for the MENA region as an Agri-tech Powerhouse.

“Mawarid's legacy aligns perfectly with our vision of making earth green again, says CEO of Desert Control, Ole Kristian Sivertsen. By joining forces in the Middle East, we aim to develop a blueprint for sustainable ecosystem management and climate-

FOOD FOR FUTURE SUMMIT & EXPO TO DEBUT DURING FOOD, AGRICULTURE & LIVELIHOODS WEEK AT EXPO 2020 DUBAI Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) has launched its brand-new Food For Future Summit and Expo in association with Expo 2020 Dubai’s Food, Agriculture and Livelihoods Week.

Running from 23rd-24th February at Dubai Exhibition Centre at Expo 2020 Dubai, the Food For Future Summit & Expo will be co-located with the Global Agtech Innovation Expo to form a powerhouse of industry innovation and progression.

Hosted by the UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (UN FAO) as strategic partners, the Food For Future Summit & Expo will reinforce the UAE’s National Food Security Strategy and galvanise all sectors of the agriculture and food supply chains to create a sustainable food ecosystem for all.

Her Excellency Mariam bint

Mohammed Almheiri, UAE Minister of Climate Change and Environment, said: “We are proud to host the Food For Future Summit & Expo that brings together likeminded stakeholders from around the world to explore innovative ways of advancing the global transition to sustainable food systems. The event aligns with the UAE’s holistic approach to food security, as reflected in the National Food Security Strategy 2051, and provides an ideal platform to showcase state-of-the-art agricultural solutions that address the critical water-foodenergy nexus. We are pleased to join forces with FAO once again, and are confident that its support will add significant value to the event.”

4 Gulf Agriculture | www.gulfagriculture.com

Key focus sectors will include AI & Nutrition; IoT, cloud solutions, UAV, robotics and drones, automation, adaptive irrigation, grow lighting, data management, supply chain management, climate-smart agriculture, food loss and waste, controlled environment, ICT in agriculture, mechanisation, organic agriculture, precision agriculture, biotechnology, soil plant health, saltwater agriculture, renewable energy and water management.

January-February 2022

‫‪SOSPALM, THE PERMANENT ENDOTHERAPY‬‬ ‫‪SYSTEM FOR THE CONTROL OF PESTS AND‬‬ ‫‪DISEASES IN PALM TREES‬‬ ‫ﺷﻬﺎدة ﺑﺮاءة اﻻﺧﺘﺮاع‬ ‫رﻗﻢ اﻟﺒﺮاءة‪:‬‬

‫‪1065‬‬

‫رﻗﻢ اﻟﻄﻠﺐ ‪:‬‬

‫‪P1212/2012‬‬

‫ﺗﺎ�ﻳﺦ اﻟﺘﻘﺪﻳﻢ‪:‬‬

‫‪25-11-2012‬‬

‫ﺗﺎ�ﻳﺦ اﻟﻤﻨﺢ ‪:‬‬

‫‪19-06-2018‬‬

‫ﻣﺴﻤﻰ اﻻﺧﺘﺮاع ‪:‬‬ ‫ﻣﻌﻮل ﺣﻘﻦ ﻹﻋﻄ ﺎء ﺟﺮﻋ ﺎت ﻣﻨﺘﺠ ﺎت ﺟﻬ ﺎ� ﻳﺔ و ﻣﻐﺬﻳﺔ إ� اﻷ ﺷﺠ ﺎر واﻟﻨﺨﻴﻞ‬

‫ﻣﻘﺪم ‪ /‬ﻣﻘﺪﻣﻮن اﻟﻄﻠﺐ‪:‬‬ ‫أﻟﻔ� ﻳﺪو أﻫﻮﻣ ﺎدا ﺑﻴ� ﻳﺰ‬ ‫ﻛ ﺎ� ﻳﺘﻴﺮا ﻻ ﻓ ﺎل دوﻛﺴﻮ أس‪/‬أن‪ ،‬إي‪ 12526-‬ﻻ ﻓﻴﻼﻓﻴﻴ ﺎ‪ ،‬ﻛ ﺎ ﺳﺘﻴﻴﻮن‪،‬‬

‫اﻟﻤﺨﺘﺮع‪ /‬اﻟﻤﺨﺘﺮﻋﻮن‪:‬‬ ‫أﻟﻔ� ﻳﺪو أﻫﻮﻣ ﺎدا ﺑﻴ� ﻳﺰ‬ ‫ﻛ ﺎ� ﻳﺘﻴﺮا ﻻ ﻓ ﺎل دوﻛﺴﻮ أس‪/‬أن‪ ،‬إي‪ 12526-‬ﻻ ﻓﻴﻼﻓﻴﻴ ﺎ‪ ،‬ﻛ ﺎ ﺳﺘﻴﻴﻮن‪،‬‬

‫ان ﻣﻨﺢ ﺷﻬﺎدة ﺑﺮاءة اﻟﺨﺘﺮاع ﻻ ﺗﻌﻨﻲ اﻋﻄﺎء اﻟﺤﻖ ﻟﺼﺎﺣﺒﻬﺎ ﺑﺘﺴﻮﻳﻖ و ﺗﺪاول اﻟﻤﻨﺘﺞ داﺧﻞ دوﻟﺔ اﻻﻣﺎرات اﻟﻌ� ﺑﻴﺔ اﻟﻤﺘﺤﺪة‬ ‫اﻻ ﺑﻌﺪ‬ ‫اﺗﺒﺎع اﻻﺟﺮاءات اﻟﻘﺎﻧﻮﻧﻴﺔ اﻟﻤﻌﻤﻮل ﺑﻬﺎ ﻣﻦ ﻗﺒﻞ اﻟﺠﻬﺎت اﻟﻤﻌﻨﻴﺔ‪.‬‬

‫ﻦ ﻋﺒﺪاﻟﻌ�ﻳﺰ اﻟﺸﺤﻲ‬ ‫اﻟﻤﻬﻨﺪس\ ﻣﺤﻤﺪ أﺣﻤﺪ ﺑﺑﻦ‬ ‫وﻛﻴﻞ اﻟﻮزارة ﻟﻠﺸﺆون اﻻﻗﺘﺼﺎدﻳﺔ‬

‫‪Product protected by industrial property rights‬‬ ‫‪granted in the United Arab Emirates and in‬‬ ‫‪other international territories under the trade‬‬ ‫‪name "Sospalm". The manufacture, sale and‬‬ ‫‪use of unauthorized copies of this product‬‬ ‫‪may be prosecuted under the Patent Law.‬‬

‫‪PATENTED‬‬ ‫"‪"Don't Use Fakes‬‬ ‫‪www.sospalm.com‬‬

News smart agriculture in the UAE with global impact. Water, food, and a stable climate is the pathway to peace and prosperity for people and planet - this is the legacy we strive to build.”

Mawarid Desert Control LLC ("MDC") will be the driving force for sales and distribution of Desert Control's Liquid Natural Clay ("LNC") across the Middle East and will be Desert Control's exclusive partner in the UAE. Desert Control Middle East LLC in Abu Dhabi will operate Desert Control's LNC production factories in the region to secure LNC supply for the partnership at

commercial terms utilizing the know-how and strengths of the Parties to maximize value creation. The new Mawarid Desert Control company shall become a leading provider of climate-smart agriculture solutions to combat desertification and soil degradation. MDC will focus on sustainable ecosystem management for agriculture, forestry, afforestation, and landscaping, to preserve water resources, strengthen food security, restore biodiversity, and safeguard our environment by contributing to efficient use of our natural resources.

BIDFOOD SECURES EXCLUSIVE FOODSERVICE DISTRIBUTORSHIP FOR JING™ TEA PRODUCTS IN THE UAE Bidfood UAE, a leading multichannel foodservice provider of international F&B brands and part of the Bidcorp Group announced official distributorship agreement with JING™ Tea to supply the rarest and most exceptional tea products in the United Arab Emirates. JING™ Tea is the first tea brand in the ever-expanding portfolio of Bidfood UAE and Bidfood KSA; with plans to further

WELSH LAMB SETS SIGHTS ON MIDDLE EAST’S HOSPITALITY SECTOR

Meat Promotion Wales (HCC) has launched a new partnership designed to boost sales of PGI Welsh Lamb into the hotel and restaurant sector across the Middle East. Available to buy at Classic Fine Foods and Kibsons from mid December, the demand for UK-produced sheep meat across the region has been steadily increasing year on year.

Market development work by HCC and Welsh processors, in partnership with the Welsh Government, led to a major growth in lamb exports to the wider Middle East region including UAE,

Kuwait, KSA, Jordan, Libya and Qatar of 495% between 2018 and 2020.

According to HCC Market Development Manager Rhys Llywelyn this is the time to invest again in the region as the tourist and hospitality economy emerges from Covid restrictions.

“The Middle East has long been a promising market, with high lamb consumption and a rapidly growing economy and hospitality sector,” explained Rhys. “Our bid to expand this market, for the benefit of Welsh farmers and food producers, really started to pay dividends from 2018 with major increases in exports to several countries.”

Keen to diversify their export markets to include regions beyond Europe post Brexit, the Welsh meat

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promotional body will embark on an ambitious programme of engagement with importers, hoteliers and restaurateurs. This will include investment into the UAE’s food industry bodies, such as their recent role as headline sponsor of the prestigious Leaders in Food and Beverage Awards, held at Sofitel Dubai the Obelisk hotel at the end of November. The growth in exports will also reflect the UK gaining access to new markets such as Saudi Arabia and persistent trade development activity by HCC and the Welsh Government in new markets like Qatar.

80% of Welsh farmland is unsuitable for growing crops, thereby making raising livestock the most efficient way to turn upland pastures into high-quality food while the grasslands capture carbon from the atmosphere making it a popular choice for meat lovers considering their own sustainable eating choices this year.

January-February 2022

News extend its regional partnership in the Sultanate of Oman.

Commenting, Hisham Al Jamil, Bidfood Middle East CEO said, “Our partnership with JING™ Tea is a significant milestone as we work to diversify and grow our sustainable products portfolio in a way that responds to everchanging market and consumer needs. JING™ Tea’s commitment to provide a highquality tea experience is perfectly aligned with Bidfood Middle East’s mission to deliver excellence and value throughout our industry leading foodservice and support services. With this new partnership, we look forward to further strengthening our solid base, distribution network and market share in the region’s dynamic foodservice industry.”

January-February 2022

According to recent statistics released by the Market Data Forecast, the Middle East and Africa tea market is worth $6.73 billion in 2021 and is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 5.3% to reach $7.88 billion by 2026. Bidfood plans to cater to the growing awareness and demand for luxury tea in the region by leveraging on its value-added distribution network.

AGCO INVESTS IN GREENEYE TECHNOLOGY, AN INNOVATOR IN SMART FARMING SOLUTIONS FOR PRECISION SPRAYING AGCO, Your Agriculture Company, (NYSE:AGCO), a worldwide manufacturer and

distributor of agricultural machinery and precision ag technology, has announced a 2.9% equity investment in Greeneye Technology, an emerging leader in precision spraying technology.

Greeneye’s proprietary AI-enabled precision spraying system detects and sprays individual weeds, which is designed to significantly reduce herbicide usage compared to standard broadcast spraying. In addition to improving farmers’ profitability, the system is expected to increase productivity by enabling farmers to invest in more efficacious crop protection products that are not affordable when applied on a broadcast basis. Combined with the technology’s ability to identify weeds down to a species level,

www.gulfagriculture.com | Gulf Agriculture

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News this provides a clear path to tackling the growing threat posed by herbicide-resistant weeds. Greeneye’s solution is designed to apply herbicides to emerged crops (green-ongreen) at commercial speeds

of up to 20 km/h, ensuring no reduction in productivity for farmers. In line with AGCO’s approach of providing innovative solutions for retrofit installation, Greeneye’s system is designed to integrate

seamlessly into any brand or size of commercial sprayer.

“Our investment in Greeneye Technology complements AGCO’s farmer-first strategy, which has been designed to deliver industry-leading smart

TECHNOLOGY FOR COVERED CROPS AND IN THE FIELD HAS POTENTIAL TO INCREASE UK PRODUCTION, SAY EXPERTS Yield, taste and time to harvest can all be impacted by light.

Photosynthesis (the process by which plants convert sunlight to biomass) is a bottleneck in agricultural productivity and thus limits food production. Increasing the rate of photosynthesis in field crops and enabling year around production of green vegetables are among the goals to be discussed at the AgriTechE event “Let there be Light” hosted by the University of Essex Plant Innovation Centre.

“Light is a limiting factor in UK agriculture, but new approaches offer to improve the way plants respond to that light, opening capacity for new crops and year-round production, as the country looks to build more resilient supply chains to increase food security,” says AgriTechE Director, Dr Belinda Clarke.

A blended approach of field and undercover cropping may increase the UK’s potential to be self-sufficient

in leafy greens, says University of Essex researcher John Stamford, who is looking at how to use tailored LED lighting recipes to improve crop performance and yield.

“Speaking to farmers, there are a few issues around the supply of leafy greens in the supermarkets. Around November production switches from the UK to Spain which means we are importing these crops over the winter months. The idea here is to improve accessibility of hydroponics to potentially have cost-effective year-round UK production. Light plays an important role in that.”

John has experimented with artificial day lengths and changing the quality of light that a plant receives over time to see the impact that has on flavour and other properties: “A plant responds to light quality and quantity in order to optimise itself for the environment, and we can use this response to customise the flavour and morphology of the plant.”

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Lighting can also be used to reduce time to harvest, according to research by Jim Stevens of Vertical Future, an engineering firm that designs controlled environments for clients. Vertical Future recently announced a £21million fundraising round, which will be used to boost its development pipeline and widen the options of what can be grown.

Jim explains: “Growing lettuces at supermarket prices in vertical farms may be feasible if we can get their growth cycle down from 8 weeks to 6 or even 5. The problem is, lettuces suffer from tip burn, especially if they grow too fast. These ugly brown spots on the leaves are caused mainly by slow transpiration of water through the plants and are unsurprisingly rejected by consumers.”

“One option is to change the light spectrum to increase transpiration at higher light levels – for example turning up the blue spectrum to trigger the plant’s stomata to open and cool the plant.”

Field crops could also benefit from technology to accelerate the rate of photosynthesis. Agri-tech start-up Glaia is achieving this by using a naturally occurring carbon-nano material to create ‘sugar dots’ that can be sprayed on to foliage. Once located on the leaves the dots increase the number of lightharvesting antenna, improving the response to light. When applied to wheat, strawberries, and tomatoes they have been shown to increase yields between 20-40%.

January-February 2022

News farming solutions that improve our customer’s net farm income,” said Eric Hansotia, AGCO’s Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. “Greeneye Technology has a strong focus on solving real customer needs and has demonstrated the ability to develop innovative solutions that provide measurable customer benefits.”

IRISH FOOD BOARD APPOINTS KIERAN FITZGERALD AS MIDDLE EAST REGIONAL DIRECTOR Bord Bia, the Irish government agency that manages the promotion, trade development and marketing of the Irish food, drink and horticulture industry, has announced the appointment of Kieran Fitzgerald as the new Regional Director for the Middle East region.

Kieran will be leading the Irish food board across the Middle East, a market that is immensely important to Ireland. Despite the challenges brought on by Covid19, Irish food and drink exports to the Middle East were worth €344 million in 2020. Premium grassfed dairy ingredients represent the largest category of Irish exports to the region, and have contributed to an overall increase of 6% in exports to Saudi Arabia in 2021 (year to date).

Kieran will be responsible for working with industry leaders to drive the commercial success of Irish food, drink and horticulture exports to the Middle East as well as to support Irish producers and exporters enter regional markets and grow their exports, ultimately enabling both the growth and sustainability of Irish food and drink producers.

There is a rising demand for premium quality, grass-fed Irish, beef and lamb in UAE restaurants, with beef exports to the country

January-February 2022

increasing by 120% (year to date) and lamb exports having increased by more than 140%, making the country a key strategic market for Irish food producers.

FUTURE CROPS BRINGS VERTICAL FARMING CLOSER TO THE LAND The challenges posed by urbanization and the

gradual dwindling of arable land is driving more farming indoors. The agri-tech start-up Future Crops, Ltd. has developed the first indoor vertical farming system that grows its crops in a unique soil substrate composition, bringing this nascent farming concept closer to home and to the earth.

The Israeli-Dutch venture has established a fully automated 8,000m2 indoor vertical farm in Westland, Netherlands, the

aponix - urban cultivation systems

aponix living WallSystem Modules arrange like shingles.

Retains liquid separate from plant.

Irrigation vertical through Modules. Circulating / draining.

Removable Pot Insert for quick change of plants.

Simple installation using horizontal rails.

Indoor and outdoor application.

For edible plants, ornamental or general urban vegetation.

Designed, developed and made in Germany.

Book a product demo: hello@aponix.eu We are looking for integration partners: www.aponix.eu www.gulfagriculture.com | Gulf Agriculture

9

News “greenhouse hub” of Europe.

The facility, towering nine stories, is powered primarily by solar energy, and combined with high precision agricultural technology. It can provide optimal growing conditions for a broad spectrum of leafy greens and herbs.

Future Crops CEO and co-founder Gary Grinspan attests that this method of cultivation not only delivers quality fresh produce, it enables the produce to reclaim its original characteristic taste and aromas that have been degraded following decades of pesticide use and industry pressures to place the focus on boosting output. Future Crops’ advanced technology maximizes yield per area unit in comparison to traditional

agriculture, with no compromise on quality.

SILAL SIGNS MOU WITH AGTHIA GROUP PJSC TO CONSTRUCT 10 GRAIN SILOS WITH A CAPACITY OF 200K MT BY END OF 2022 Silal, Abu Dhabi’s fresh produce and agritech company, recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Agthia Group PJSC (Agthia) to construct 10 grain silos by the end of 2022. These will be located at Zayed Port in Abu Dhabi, with a total capacity of 200K MT, and store multiple varieties of key grains, such as wheat, barley, and corn.

His Excellency Eng. Jamal Salem Al Dhaheri, CEO of

Silal, and Alan Smith, Chief Executive Officer, Agthia Group, signed the MoU at a ceremony on the sidelines of SIAL Middle East, in which Silal is the key sponsor. The signing ceremony was attended by H.E. Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence, H.E. Mohamed Ali Al Shorafa Al Hammadi.

Chairman of Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development, H.E. Dr. Mugheer Khamis Al Khaili, Chairman of the Department of Community Development (DCD) in Abu Dhabi, and H.E. Saeed Al Bahri Salem Al Ameri, DirectorGeneral of ADAFSA, as well as senior officials from both organisations.

The silos, which are among the largest in the UAE with significant volume and

GALLOX, FEED PAN SPECIALLY DEVELOPED FOR MALES VDL Agrotech has developed the Gallox, a new feed pan for feeding 8-10 males per pan in broiler breeder houses.

• The Gallox is equipped with "cups" and extra ridge, so the dosed feed will not spread further into the bottom pan while dosing the feed.

• Males have to peck the feed out of the small “cups” in a specific way, therefore it takes them longer to eat the feed.

• More quietness in the house during feeding.

• The grill-less design ensures that the cocks combs are not damaged and the males have optimal access to the feed.

There are 2 different dosing methods: Method 1: Dosing of feed simultaneous with the feeding

The feed line remains suspended at feeding height and is fitted with extra triangular dosing plates which ensure that the feed is transported faster to the last feed pans. The reduction tube, a low dosage setting and a high auger speed ensures an optimal distribution of the feed over the feed pans, even when the males are already eating from them.

Method 2: Dosing of feed prior to feeding The feed line has to be winched up manually or automatically after feeding.

The feed pans are set in a dosage position where the daily supply in the hopper can be equally divided over all the feed pans in one time. The Gallox feed pan has 6 dosing positions and 12 different dosing volumes by using or not using a reduction tube. During the

10 Gulf Agriculture | www.gulfagriculture.com

feeding, the feed line is winched down to feeding height. For a single dosage, the amount of feed in the transport tube of 400 g/meter should be added to the contents of the Gallox feeding pan.

Gallox has been extensively tested in practice.

January-February 2022

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News capacity, will be considered a landmark project to support and enhance the country’s strategic food reserves programme.

Commenting on the MoU, His Excellency Eng. Jamal Salem Al Dhaheri, CEO of Silal, said: “The establishment of the silos is crucial for the UAE to ensure sufficient infrastructure is available to support the nation’s goal of achieving food sustainability through the availability of key food items at all times. We are delighted to collaborate with Agthia to increase strategic food reserves within the emirate of Abu Dhabi and the UAE.” “The silos will play a vital role in food accessibility, and we look forward to working with our progressive partners to enable sustainable and forwardthinking practices. This MoU

adheres to Silal’s ethos and is in line with achieving the UAE’s commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).”

Alan Smith, Chief Executive Officer, Agthia Group, said: “Agthia remains strategically aligned with the UAE’s vision of economic, social and environmental success of the country. Furthermore, we have been a driving force in the ESG sustainability efforts across our business operations, as per global best practices related to the food and beverage industry.

This partnership represents another step in that direction.”

Under the MoU, Silal will lead the project execution, while being supported with consulting counsel by Agthia – which will lend support for the overall building of the silos.

Furthermore, Agthia will manage the silos’ operation upon the project completion and provide technical consultancy services to support the project through to completion of the construction phase.

Established to diversify the sources of food produce, Silal has a firm commitment towards the vision of the UAE to increase the capacity for strategic food reserves (such as in grain, rice, legumes, edible oils, sugar, and frozen foods).

NSK RENEWS A-SERIES AGRI DISC HUBS WITH AS RANGE LAUNCH As part of an initiative to ensure its products continue meeting the latest demands of

BAYER’S GRANTS4AG PROGRAM AWARDS FUNDING FOR 21 NEW CROP SCIENCE RESEARCH PROPOSALS Bayer recently announced its 2022 cohort of Grants4Ag grant recipients who were chosen to receive awards ranging from 5,000 to 15,000 Euros to help them complete research on challenges facing agriculture.

21 proposals make up this year’s Grants4Ag awardees with research goals including reducing agriculture’s carbon footprint, understanding social factors that influence innovation adoption, and improving the drought tolerance of plants in the face of more frequent extreme weather events.

“Bayer is the leader in agriculture research and development, but it’s very clear that given the complexity of the challenges farmers face around the world, we can’t solve every problem on our own,” said Phil Taylor, Open Innovation Lead for Bayer’s Crop Science Division. “We were thrilled at the quality of this

year’s submissions and we’re looking forward to working with each of the grant recipients.”

As part of Bayer’s Open4Ag initiative Bayer’s Grants4Ag awardees retain all intellectual property rights to their research, and in addition to financial support successful researchers will also be paired with one of Bayer’s own scientists to provide project guidance as their research progresses. Through this commitment to partnership, and with support from innovation partnering platform Halo, Bayer received more than 350 proposals from researchers around the world during a fiveweek submission window this past fall.

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“Bayer’s Grants4Ag program is an amazing opportunity for my research, and I was very pleased to have been chosen as a grant recipient,” says Amy Lemay of Brock University.

“Grants4Ag offers not only financial support, but also provides access to leading scientists at Bayer and mentorship opportunities that will help me to understand challenges and tactics that can further develop my research.”

January-February 2022

News

UAE’S FIRST BLUEBERRY PRODUCER ELITE AGRO TO DOUBLE PRODUCTION CAPACITY TO MEET GROWING REGIONAL DEMAND Elite Agro, a leading UAE producer and distributor of fresh produce, has announced that it will double its blueberry production capacity by adding 14 hectares of greenhouses dedicated to growing an additional 72,000 plants for the 2023 harvest.

Triggered by growing consumer demand for the locally produced high-quality berries, the company has already increased its output capacity for 2022 to 280 tons of blueberries, compared to 205 tons in 2021. The significantly ramped-up crop was harvested during a 17-week period to ensure consumers can obtain the freshest locally grown blueberries from neighbourhood retailers.

Their crop of premium branded ‘Elite Berry’ blueberries is made up of five varieties, including the famous blueberry named ‘Eureka Jumbo’, are all grown at the Al Foah Farm in Al Ain where 20 greenhouses, covering 12 hectares are dedicated to producing this incredibly popular fruit. Each greenhouse is home to

the agriculture industry, NSK is bringing to market a renewed range of A-series Agri Disc Hub bearing units. The new AS series Agri Disc Hubs will be available from stock to meet Europe-wide demand for quick deliver.

Quality, performance and cost were the three primary factors in NSK’s renewal of its AHU28117A series Agri Disc Hubs. The new range, denoted by the AS suffix, covers three popular sizes: AHU28117AS-01 (four holes), AHU28117AS-02 (five holes) and AHU28117AS-03 (six holes).

January-February 2022

over 3,350 blueberry plants that thrive from a climate-controlled environment enabled by state-of-theart automated technology. The company also aspires to plant other varieties of blueberries that will ensure early winter production in addition to an extended harvesting period.

“As the first blueberry producer in the country, we had incredible success in our debut year of 2020 with production doubling after just one year. As we look ahead, we will soon quadruple our production capabilities, which is a testament to how popular our home-grown premium blueberries have become. This has all been made possible through the use of revolutionary technology, our stateof-the-art infrastructure and smart farming techniques at our

These new products deliver a number of attributes that help to enhance performance in challenging agricultural applications, including: contamination prevention through excellent sealing capability; maintenance-free performance thanks to lubrication for life; a strong housing that facilitates high moment load and speed; easy installation with quick changeout for less downtime; and long bearing life.

Such characteristics are ideal for a growing and

greenhouses that allow the production of the highest quality, freshest and most reliable harvest,” commented Ian Summerfield, Elite Agro CEO. The blueberry plant saplings are sown in a growing medium, which is a combination of coco peat, perlite and other substances, explicitly created for blueberries.

A drip irrigation system is used to supply them with nutrients that have been mixed with water, while controlling the growth of individual plants by regular soil and foliage analysis.

evolving market like agriculture, where mechanical weeding is expanding rapidly in line with the desire to stop using glyphosate.

There is also increasing demand for integrated solutions that offer strong sealing capabilities in harsh applications such as tillage.

For more than 10 years NSK has produced Agri Disc Hubs at its Neuweg production facility in Munderkingen, Germany. This plant, with its highly flexible production set-up, will also manufacture the latest AS series,

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News which features a newly optimised flange design among other enhancements.

A top-quality approach, combined with proven flexibility from NSK’s Munderkingen plant, means the agriculture sector can continue enjoying the benefits of Agri Disc Hubs – through the new AS series – for equipment that includes covercrop units, tillers, front packers, seeders, row cleaners, mowers and finger-weeders.

GREEN UNIVERSE PLANS TO LAUNCH ITS NOVEL INITIATIVE FOR GREEN CONNECTION OF UAE Green Universe from Italy has announced its plan for the

launch of its novel initiative “Creative Solutions for a Sustainable Green Connection of UAE”. A grand opening ceremony will be held at Expo 2020 Dubai and attended by a number of establishments and personalities concerned with climate issues, creation of sustainable environment and green economy sector.

Green Universe consists of a group of companies specialized in green economy and environmental issues. The aim is to help countries create sustainable environmental systems and consolidate the quality of life of their communities in such a manner that reflects positively on all economic, social, health and environmental aspects

and contributes to building a sustainable future for current and future generations.

The group has already forged partnerships with major scientific and research centers of distinguished Universities dealing with environmental issues such as Politecnico di Milano and the Department of Science of Life and Biology of Systems at the University of Turin.

It’s worthy to mention that Green Universe is present for several years with its regional headquarters in Dubai, UAE for the Middle East.

“The group’s choice of the UAE to be its regional headquarters for the region is based on its officials’ firm belief that the UAE is the best

CITRUS FRUITS - SICILIAN ROOTS FEED ON INNOVATION In line with the sustainable development strategies of the Unifrutti Group to which it belongs, Oranfrizer in Sicily is experimenting with new technology aimed at improving the quality of fruit, producing healthier plants, optimising the resources used and respecting the environment.

The process of precision farming begins with the acquisition of data using satellites, drones and field measurements to monitor soil and water requirements, the health of

trees, soil, air and leaf moisture, the amount of wind and light, and adverse environmental conditions.

The data collected and processed by specialised software provides useful analyses for agronomists who can intervene in a more meticulous manner to improve the management of citrus groves and the quality of the fruit, optimise the use of water and fertilisers and avoid waste as much as possible.

For many years now, Oranfrizer's citrus fruits have been completely edible, including the peel, because they are the result of integrated pest management. In the field and after harvesting, the limits imposed by law on the use of pesticides are strictly adhered to, with very low levels of residue on the harvest (below 70% of the limit imposed by law). The level of control

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will increase with these new precision farming practices.

The tests started by Oranfrizer in 2019 are still ongoing and involve around thirty hectares of crops located on the slopes of the Etna volcano, in the heart of Eastern Sicily. Oranges are one of the main fruits of the Oranfrizer project, especially the red ones. The crops that were tested are: Tarocco Ippolito, Sciara and Scirè blood oranges, Navelina, Navel Powel and Lane Late blonde oranges, as well as lemons, mandarins and pomegranates. The company’s commitment in the field continues along the production process, in the packaging plant in Scordia, in the Plain of Catania, which has been 30% solar-powered since 2017, and changes are also taking place in the packaging, which is progressively changing its appearance, reducing the use of plastic in favour of paper.

January-February 2022

News

JOHN DEERE REVEALS FULLY AUTONOMOUS TRACTOR AT CES 2022 right to start the machine. While the machine is working the farmer can leave the field to focus on other tasks, while monitoring the machine’s status from their mobile device.

John Deere Operations Center Mobile provides access to live video, images, data and metrics, During a press conference at CES 2022, John Deere revealed a fully autonomous tractor that’s ready for large-scale production. The machine combines Deere’s 8R tractor, TruSetenabled chisel plow, GPS guidance system, and new advanced technologies. The autonomous tractor will be available to farmers later this year.

The 8R410 looks very similar in appearance to a conventional tractor of the series but is equipped with state-of-the-art technology for controlling and monitoring the tractor and mounted excavator.

• The autonomous tractor has six pairs of stereo cameras, which enables 360-degree obstacle detection and the calculation of

destination for launching the company’s operations regionally. Thanks to country’s extremely ambitious plan to build a green economy that achieves sustainable development, makes the UAE a leading global hub for green technologies. This is enabled as well thanks to the development of a package of environmental and urban policies aimed at improving the quality of life in the country,” said Mark Nikolli, Green Universe Executive President.

January-February 2022

distance.

• Images captured by the cameras are passed through a deep neural network that classifies each pixel in approximately 100 milliseconds and determines if the machine continues to move or stops, depending on if an obstacle is detected.

• The autonomous tractor is also continuously checking its position relative to a geofence, ensuring it is operating where it is supposed to, and is within less than an inch of accuracy.

To use the autonomous tractor, farmers only need to transport the machine to a field and configure it for autonomous operation. Using John Deere Operations Center Mobile, they can swipe from left to

THE FUTURE TRENDS IN AGRICULTURE AT AGRITECHNICA ASIA AND HORTI ASIA 2022 AGRITECHNICA ASIA and HORTI ASIA 2022 are back to the physical show after two years, offering you the chance to meet face-to-face with agricultural professionals to discuss smart farming solutions for more sustainability, the focus of this year's show. Both trade fairs will be held from 25 to 27 May 2022 at BITEC,

and allows a farmer to adjust speed, depth and more. In the event of any job quality anomalies or machine health issues, farmers will be notified remotely and can make adjustments to optimise the performance of the machine.

Currently, the technology for the 8R410 is available in combination with a special John Deere chisel plow. A limited number of tractors will be delivered to North American customers this year. In the coming years, John Deere will work on the availability of the technology for further machines and attachments.

The launch of the brand in Europe is currently not planned, as safety regulations currently do not allow the use of autonomous vehicles.

Bangkok, Thailand as the leading trade fairs for the Asia-Pacific region with a wide range of international exhibitors, a high-class technical program and visitors expected from more than 65 countries.

More than 300 exhibitors from all over the world will be showing off their latest innovation in agriculture and horticulture in the field of Soil preparation, Drilling and Sowing, Irrigation, Crop protection and Fertilizing, Farm Inputs, Harvesting, Processing & Storage, Transportation,

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News Precision Farming, Digitization, Systems & Components and Energy Decentral. Also planned to remain the hosted buyer program by inviting the potential key buyers across Asia region to meet and match with our top exhibitors from worldwide.

GROSSO FOODS B.V. REBRANDS TO GROSSO.AFRICA, REVEALS EXPANSION PLANS Agricultural investment and advisory partner, Grosso Foods B.V., has transitioned into Grosso. Africa, a Tanzania based distributor with a handson focus on distribution of conservation agriculture equipment and smart farming solutions.

The rebrand highlights the company’s growth and strategic expansion plans with an unveiling of a new website

redesign to reinforce its growing business model.

“Our new name represents where the company is going, shows continued commitment to the customers that helped us get here, and points to the future," said Nuradin Osman, Founder & CEO of Grosso.

Africa. “Specifically, our new distribution agreement of leading brands including LS Tractor and Jan Agricultural Equipment reflects our commitment to meeting farmers’ needs with HighHorse Power tractors, precision planting, precision seed drill, self-propelled sprayers, combines and smart farming solutions, simplifying our approach to making accessible and affordable smart farming inquiries, connecting with our specialists, and order services.”

In 2020, Osman launched Grosso Foods B.V. to focus on last mile farmer-level

transformations—increasing yields, reducing post-harvest losses, improving market access, and elevating product margins based on three core pillars: investment, advocacy, and project management. As it grew, the business began to supply farmers with a carefully selected offering of agricultural equipment and skilled personnel.

Today, Grosso.Africa rents and sells farming equipment, while offering agricultural contracting and leasing to farmers. The company supports its farmers through highly skilled farm machinery operators and agricultural experts with decades of experience in the agriculture machinery industry and precision Ag technology.

Grosso. Africa will advance conservation agriculture practices by focusing on minimal to no-till method of farming.

DISCOVER THE LINGERING TASTE OF MALAYSIA AT THE GULFOOD 2022 Malaysian companies under the national trade promotion agency, MATRADE is all set to participate in the world’s largest F&B show, Gulfood in Dubai, from 13 to 17 February 2022. A total of 67 Malaysian companies in the food & beverages sector will take centre stage at the event. Palm oil-based products, ready-to-eat meals, food ingredients, beverages, confectionary, sauces and paste, snacks, frozen food, bakery items, and healthy and organic foods are among the Malaysian products to be presented at the trade show.

Malaysia’s efforts to build competencies in the Halal industry can be traced back over many

years. Malaysian Halal certification is globally recognised and to date, has been proudly labelled by manufacturers that seek to cater to the Muslim market. Malaysian food products are widely accepted in this part of the world because of its stringent standards and high quality. In addition, wide acceptability of Malaysia’s Halal certification gives the products an added advantage in marketing the food products.

For the first 11 months of 2021, Malaysia’s exports of processed food to the GCC region had increased by 13.3% to reach USD303.3 million and the UAE was Malaysia’s second largest export

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destination in the region last year with 37.4% of the region’s share.

“The strong acceptance for Malaysian’s F&B products, demand for new products in the UAE and increasing consumer awareness in the region for healthy and functional food contributed to the sterling trade performance,” according to Mr Remee Yaakub, Director of Halal, F&B and Agro Products at MATRADE. He also cited that the Malaysian food and beverage sector has witnessed a healthy growth over the past couple of years and with this trend MATRADE is all geared to promote our key producers at Gulfood.

January-February 2022

News EU CONTINUES STRONG SUPPORT TO PROMOTE SUSTAINABLE AGRIFOOD PRODUCTS IN 2022 For 2022, a total of €185.9 million was allocated to the promotion of EU agri-food products in and outside the EU. Similarly to 2021, this year's promotion policy work programme focuses on products and agricultural practices that support the European Green Deal objectives, such as EU organic products, fruit and vegetables, sustainable agriculture and animal

welfare.

The promotion policy will co-fund campaigns in line with the European Green Deal ambitions, supporting objectives from the Farm to Fork strategy, Europe's beating cancer plan, the EU organic action plan and the Communication on the European citizens' initiative ‘End the cage age'. Campaigns should inform EU and global consumers about organic farming, EU sustainable agriculture and the contribution of the agri-food sector towards climate action and the environment. Inside the EU, campaigns will also promote healthy eating and

balanced diets by increasing the consumption of fresh fruit and vegetables.

Furthermore, to increase coherence with Europe's Beating cancer plan, the campaigns' visual promotion material will have to refer to the Food Based Dietary Guidelines of the targeted EU country.

Another focus of the campaigns will be to highlight the high safety and quality standards, as well as the diversity and traditional aspects of EU agri-food products. This includes the promotion of EU quality schemes such as geographical indications in the EU.

SPX FLOW HAS INTRODUCED UHT INNOVATION CENTER IN THE MIDDLE EAST A new Innovation Center in Dubai allows customers to test a complete delivery solution to accelerate their time to market. This facility stretches the value chain all the way from research and development through processing to final packaging.

SPX FLOW will test products, finding the right balance between optimal temperature and total processing time. This extends product shelf life while retaining the taste, texture and depth consumers expect.

Before the Innovation Center

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opened, customers across the Middle East, Africa, and throughout Asia Pacific often faced two unappealing options. They could travel to Europe to test recipes, processes and filling solutions, but that could be a logistical challenge that took more time and money. Or they could test products at their own facilities, but that could halt full production and require more material and expenses.

Just days after the Innovation Center opened in November, SPX FLOW announced it will provide its Ultra High Temperature (UHT) technology process lines to one of the Middle East's leading dairy producers.

The Innovation Center opens as demand for innovation continues to grow. Consumers want more variety for plantbased beverages, milk drinks, on-the-go

breakfast drinks, smoothies with real fruit particulates and functional, ambient yogurts.

In the 1950s and 1960s, SPX FLOW helped pioneer Ultra High Temperature treatment, and today, the company offers a large choice of technology. It ranges from low cost “express” systems to customized solutions that meet exact processing needs and specific product qualities.

SPX FLOW helps customers develop recipes using indirect heating with plate or tubular heat exchangers and direct heating using injection and infusion solutions.

Collaborating with SIG is also critical. The company is a leader in the design of systems and solutions for aseptic packaging, and with its food production license, the innovative recipes developed at the Innovation Center can be exported and used for consumer testing.

It will now be much easier for customers to test innovations with their consumers.

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Gulfood Preview

GULFOOD 2022 TO SUPERCHARGE GLOBAL FOOD AGENDA IN DRIVING A BETTER FUTURE FOR THE FOOD SECTOR

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ulfood 2022 will power considerable trends and techniques currently disrupting the international food industry agenda with its stated mandate of connecting, creating, and changing the future for the better.

The 27th edition of the world’s largest annual F&B sourcing event, which will span 21 Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) halls, will underscore UAE’s status at the forefront of sector change and leading role in tackling global issues with the launch of Gulfood Zero Waste, a global campaign in partnership with restaurants and hotels driving the zero waste initiative globally.

Running from 13 – 17 February, the landmark show will be the global sector’s undisputed transformation powerbroker, where major global challenges, trends and change drivers will be examined, including e-commerce; technology, sustainability and disruptive cellular agriculture bioinnovation – the production of animal sourced foods from cell culture methods; emerging slow and plant-based food trends. The show will be a precursor to the muchanticipated Food For Future Summit and Global Agtech Innovation Expo taking place from 23 - 24 February at EXPO

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2020’s Dubai Exhibitions Center - part of the EXPO 2020 Food, Agriculture and Livelihoods Week.

Inspiring global change Latest data from the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (UN-FAO) indicates that one third of the world’s food is wasted, equating to 1.3 billion tonnes annually at a cost of USD1 trillion. Beyond the detrimental environmental impact, wastage also translates to the loss of nutrients and resources (water, land, labour, energy, and cost) invested in food production.

Gulfood Zero Waste will light the way in addressing this major global issue, with chefs from 30 UAE restaurants,

cafes, and dark kitchens focusing on sustainable practices using local produce via off-site workshops and masterclasses.

The initiative also provides a platform for impact-driven, homegrown companies, including a partnership with The Waste Lab, which is implementing solutions to repurpose food, such as compost, with societal and economic benefits. The Gulfood 2022 onsite Zero Waste Mega Impact will aim to collect 1,000kg of food wastage to produce 400kg of compost, equating to a CO2e emissions saving of 1,000kg.

The innovative campaign will culminate in an award ceremony recognising zero waste-leading restaurants.

“Gulfood 2022 will

January-February 2022

Gulfood Preview

underscore UAE’s pivotal role in driving global F&B sector change for the better with a deep-dive into the trends and techniques set to transform the industry for good. The Gulfood Zero Waste is a global initiative with the goal of sparking dialogue and movement among policy-makers, industry leaders and communities to

take a pro-active approach to adopting zero-waste initiatives, which can help end the discrepancies between food waste and hunger while playing a part in addressing climate change,” said Trixie LohMirmand, Executive Vice President, Exhibitions & Events, DWTC. “The campaign is yet another example of UAE’s desire and leadership to power industry development for the good of all. In addition, this influential gathering will host over 4,000 exhibiting companies, a host of high-calibre speakers from 120 countries, and more than 100 award-winning chefs, including Michelin Star and ‘World’s Best’ winners, business leaders and government policy-makers under one roof.”

An all-action powerbroker Gulfood 2022 will propel sector conversations from

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agenda to action and facilitate innovative start-ups, spark the emergence of food tech solutions, empower young industry professionals and women within the sector’s research and development, and spur e-commerce.

“Gulfood 2022 will build on the event’s unequivocal reputation as an industry trend springboard and a global sourcing powerhouse to inspire industry-wide transformation for the good of the entire eco-system, from raw material producers to policy-makers and consumers,” explained LohMirmand.

“This is a time when Dubai is, via Expo 2020, presenting to the world, a whole new future with the grandstanding of epoch-making transformations.

Gulfood 2022 takes its cue from this inspiring vision with a more profound concept to provoke a stronger collective impact on the industry’s future.”

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VIV MEA Review

VIV MEA 2021 FULLY SPRANG BUSINESS INTO ACTION!

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he organizer looks back at this edition with a heartfelt gratitude towards all the global and regional exhibitors who placed their trust in VIV to return to an in-person event after a long pause, and all the visitors and partners who made it onsite. It was an informative, exciting, busy and extremely productive show, with an outstanding quality of the profiles in attendance. A memorable edition, which the whole industry deserved so much.

The visitor numbers that made the show a true success A total of 6,671 professional

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visitors smoothly made it to the 500 exhibitor booths at ADNEC halls 7 to 10 over the three days of the show. This 3rd edition of VIV MEA thus confirmed the success of 2018 in terms of visitor quantity, despite the limited traveling scenario. At the same time, visitor quality reached even greater results. In fact, 235 Industry Leaders participated in the event, while ¼ of the total visitors were C-levels.

Not only that, the highquality of the visitors is reflected also by the rest of the profiles: 26% of the visitors were companies GMs or CEOs (one-fourth of the total as said); 15% were marketing and sales managers or representatives;

veterinarians counted for a good 10%; distributors and dealers participated with a 8%; farm owners were 7% of the total visiting profiles; 5% were technical managers, engineers, or technician; and 4% were pure buyers, purchase or procurement managers.

Impressive exhibitor presence and broadspectrum of the products on display 66% of the visitors came back to the exhibition halls for more than one day. This speaks volumes about the range of products and brands available onsite and about the seriousness of the participants in getting into detailed

January-February 2022

VIV MEA Review conversations with the suppliers. The re-visit on more than one day increased by +3.3%, compared to the last edition, reflecting both the high-quality of exhibitors and the size of the show that required more than a day to cover it.

The booths at VIV MEA 2021 were continuously busy from day one to day two and the conversations proceeded far into the closing time on the third day. Business finally happened face-to-face with suppliers meeting their own agents after a long time, as Blueline Group Director, Mr Afthar Hussain mentioned, “We had the pleasure to meet again our distributors after a very long time.”

Innovations were also on display, such as the new multispectrum lightning concept introduced to the market at VIV MEA 2021 by Once Inc. “Multi-spectrum lightning already has been around for some time, but the very innovative implementation of the ND Dome is that it is working with light recipes.

Farmers can set the start and end-date of their cycle in a

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dedicated app, using a smart device like a tablet or a phone.” said Mr. Sebastian Haskamp of Once Inc. “Being in COVID-19 times, it’s very good to see the same number of visitors as in 2018. We’ve spoken to people from Iraq, Pakistan, Egypt, Lebanon and the Emirates, all serious conversations with actual investment plans behind them.” he further added.

Exhibitors participated from 51 countries. Country pavilions at VIV MEA 2021 were: the USA Pavilion, the India Pavilion, the Korea Pavilion and the France Pavilion.

A truly regional hub for the Feed to Food industry The U.A.E. topped the list with 29% of all the visitors coming from the country itself. Importantly, the majority of the visitors came from the rest of the world, with the GCC countries in the lead. 71% of the visitors in fact came from outside of the hosting country. This makes VIV MEA a truly international show and a recognized hub for the whole Middle East and Africa. Specifically, the top 4

visiting world regions were: the Middle East with 70% of the visitors, Asia with 14%, Western Europe with 8% and Africa with 5%. Top countries represented by the visitors were: U.A.E., Egypt, Saudi Arabia (the country of honor for this edition), Iraq, Pakistan, Jordan, Bangladesh, Iran, India, Oman, The Netherlands, Turkey, Israel, Sudan, Germany, Kuwait and Lebanon. The total number of visiting countries was 90.

“VIV MEA attracted the attention from many Ministry representatives in the MEA region: not only from the Emirates, but we also received officials from Nigeria, Kenya, Sudan, Israel, Jordan, Zimbabwe and more”, said Mrs Anneke van Rooijen, Relations Manager VIV Industry Leaders & Delegations.

The organizer, VNU Europe, and the VIV worldwide team & partners would like to thank all exhibitors and visitors for yet another successful gathering of the Feed to Food industry at VIV MEA 2021. See you again at ADNEC from November 20-22 at VIV MEA 2023, Abu Dhabi, U.A.E.

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Growtech Review

GROWTECH HAS LEFT ITS MARK ON THE GLOBAL AGRICULTURAL SECTOR G rowtech 20th International Greenhouse, Agricultural Technology and Livestock Equipment Fair bearing the motto of ‘Meet, Grow, Win!’ gathered international agricultural professionals around trade and exports. Making a remark regarding the exhibition, Growtech Exhibition Director Engin Er said: “We opened our gates to visitors after a twoyear break and the exhibition has proved to be very successful. We gathered 510

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companies from 25 countries and agricultural professionals from 125 countries under a single roof. The number of visitors increased by 26% this year compared to the number of visitors at the edition of 2019 which was the last exhibition that we organized before the pandemic.

53 thousand 640 people visited Growtech in 4 days.

I would like to thank all the exhibitors and visitors, and to the public institutions and sector and professional organizations like the Republic

of Turkey Ministry of Trade, Republic of Turkey Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, ATSO (Antalya Chamber of Commerce and Industry), BAiB (West Mediterranean Exporters Association), ATB (Antalya Commodity Exchange), TÜRKTOB (Turkish Seed Union), SERKONDER (Greenhouse Construction and Equipment Manufacturers and Exporters Association), GÜiD (Association of Fertilizer Manufacturers, Importers and Exporters), BASUSAD (Pressured Irrigation Industrialists Association), as

January-February 2022

Growtech Review well as to the Growtech team and press members who have contributed to the success of the event.”

Growtech is now the meeting point of global agricultural sector Referring to the major contributions of the Growtech exhibition to the agricultural sector, Er said: “Growtech is now the meeting point of global agricultural sector. Our companies can access their target markets via Growtech.

Buyers all around the world can find varied range of products and solutions at Growtech and thus can develop their businesses.

This year, visitors came mostly from Iran, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, Morocco, Uzbekistan, Lebanon, Russia, Azerbaijan, and Kazakhstan. Besides, 19 buyer companies from 7 countries participated in the Hosted Buyer Program organized by the West Mediterranean Exporters Association (BAiB) within the context of Growtech.

The Netherlands, Spain, and Hungary exhibited their latest products and technologies in their country pavilions. Apart from the exhibitors and visitors, international agriculture journalists showed a great interest to Growtech.

23 agricultural journalists from 16 countries participated in Growtech to closely monitor the global agricultural sector and hold private meetings.”

Growtech also hosted many events that feature observations and solutions regarding the agenda of the sector by supporting agricultural innovation. Organized by Growtech since 2008 and held in cooperation with Antalya Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ATSO), ATSO Growtech Agricultural

January-February 2022

Innovation Awards were handed over to the winners under 5 categories determined by the selection committee. Growtech also hosted the 5th Plant Breeding Project Market (BIPP) in collaboration with Turkish Seed Union (TÜRKTOB), Akdeniz University Technology Transfer Office (Akdeniz TTO), and Antalya Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ATSO) under the main theme of “Are you ready to sow the seeds of the future?”.The winners of The Plant Breeding Project Market also announced and got their prizes during the show.

International and Turkish agricultural and economy journalists visited the fair 23 agricultural journalists from 16 countries visited Growtech in collaboration with the Turkish Guild of Agricultural Journalists (TAGYAD).

International press participated in the two-day long intensive programs to fully understand the situation of the sector. The

journalists closely followed the meetings and presentations held on different agricultural topics like the agricultural mechanization, greenhouse cultivation, and exports. These journalists thus collected several information regarding the Turkish agricultural and food sector as well as the agricultural potential of Antalya. A roundtable meeting was also held by the Turkish Seed Union (TÜRKTOB) as part of Growtech. Delivering a speech at the event held with the participation of the press members of the Economy Journalists Association, Savas Akcan, the Deputy Chairman of TÜRKTOB said: “Seed is the next step within our search for finding alternative solutions to the climate crisis. Droughtresistant/tolerant new plant varieties are demanded. The impact of the changing food safety mindset on production begins from the field, garden, in other words from seeds.”

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Vertical Farming

A NEW MODULAR LIVING WALLSYSTEM FOR EDIBLES AND VEGETATION

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ponix takes standard horticulture equipment to the 3rd dimension enabling a new generation of urban champions adding vegetation and grow more hyperlocal plants adding more jungle to urban areas.

Modularity, versatility and being able to go 3D in a creative and robust way is always key to this new category of urban horticulture

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equipment positioned at the confluence of commercial horticulture and green urban infrastructure.

In 2021 aponix urban cultivation systems added a modular living WallSystem to their range of soilless solutions (vertical barrel / 3D-NFT) to also cover indoor and outdoor verticals as integral part of buildings including productive farming setups to grow edibles

January-February 2022

Vertical Farming maintenance. Some setups also use such systems mounted back to back to create rows of plants or even movable wall elements.

Integrating more jungle and edible plants into the urban metabolism will promote more sustainable behavior of the conscious consumer in the urban area. Citizens will be able to learn to grow plants by participating and being much closer to their farmers and nature also in metropolitan areas again.

For 2022 aponix is planning to introduce a novel TraySystem to extend into young-plant propagation for soilless and substrate based production covering also microgreens.

All aponix solutions are developed, designed and manufactured in Germany.

For more technical details, newsletter subscription or request of an online product demo please visit www.aponix.eu

– leafy greens and small fruit.

Materials used are food grade and also contain a flame resistant component to make it viable to be integrated into urban architecture.

All aponix components are considered infrastructure elements that can be creatively used to create diverse solutions for edibles, ornamentals and general urban vegetation. The components cover a surface like shingles on a roof handing and retaining liquid through multiple levels with different options of irrigation – circulating, retaining water separate from the plant’s substrate or drain-to-waste.

Plants are held separate in removable pots for simple

January-February 2022

www.gulfagriculture.com | Gulf Agriculture

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Press Trip to Greece

A press trip to Thessaloniki, Greece was organized by Novacert Ltd. to promote European Rice among the rice consumers and producers of the Arab market. "The trip educated the media delegates on European Rice’s standardization process, quality control, and food safety,” says, M. Matt, Managing Editor of Gulf Agriculture

EUROPEAN RICE: ENJOY IT'S FROM EUROPE I t’s not a surprise that rice is a staple crop to the world population.

European rice is today distinguished for its quality and nutritional value. It is believed that the rice was introduced to Europe by the naturalists who followed

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Alexander the Great in his expeditions. It's found in the fertile soil in Mediterranean Europe and was grown, loved, and became part of European culinary tradition.

European rice is a food with a high nutritional value. It is rich in B-complex vitamins,

such as Niacin, Thiamine, Riboflavin, and Selenium, while the carbohydrates contained in its endosperm constitute an important source of energy for the human organism.

Modern scientific studies recommend that a total of

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Press Trip to Greece

55% of our daily calorie intake must be in the form of carbohydrates.

Grain quality is important regarding the final product.

Quality depends not only on the variety of rice but also on the crop production environment, harvesting, processing, and milling systems. Several interrelated features determine the quality of rice, such as moisture content and purity degree.

These characteristics are

January-February 2022

determined by the environmental weather conditions during production, crop production practices, soil conditions harvesting, and post-harvest practices.

“Our rice producers fully comply with the Integrated Quality Management System for the Agricultural Production of Rice. This system is based on good agricultural practices which respect the environment, protect the producer growers health, and offer a healthy and safe product to the consumer” says, Konstantinos Astreidis – Project Manager of NOVACERT LTD – the Implementing Body of the European Rice program.

High-end quality and genuine taste are the characteristics of European Rice. Beginning from the field, producers select the seeds most suited to the soil and climate conditions of the area.

During the cultivation, they adhere to certified Integrated Management procedures

aimed at the protection of the environment and the safety of the product. After harvesting, the product is transferred to the Rice Millers which implement a certified Quality and Food Safety System, for better control of the quality procedure.

The European rice market can be sub-divided into two different segments. Indica Rice - a long-grain variety that represents around 25% of EU rice production.

Japonica rice - a short/ medium grain variety which is the traditional European rice and represents around 75% of EU rice production. EU is selfsufficient and even a net exporter of japonica rice.

Rice production in Greece The systematic cultivation of rice in Greece began in the 1950s, and since then it has had a growing presence both in the internal market in Greece and abroad. Its

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Press Trip to Greece

cultivation is associated with the region and the land where it is grown since the area’s biodiversity and the local environment play an important role in the cultivation of rice.

The rice fields are mainly located in coastal areas and the Deltas of the rivers of Greece. Beginning from the central region of the country, rice is cultivated in areas along the course of rivers Achelous and Spercheus.

Moving to the north, we come across larger rice fields in the Deltas of rivers Loudias, Aliakmon, the river Axios and the Prefecture of Thessaloniki.

More than 16,500 hectares are cultivated with rice in this area today, while its the production represents 55% of total Greek rice production, thus making a noteworthy contribution to both the local and the national economy.

distributors, and wholesalers about the authenticity and unique production of European rice as well as enhance the competitiveness of European rice production in Greece.

Within the framework of the Action “Information provision and promotion measures on rice in Jordan, Lebanon, and the UAE”, with the distinctive title “EUROPEAN RICE”, several actions are realized in each

country, for the promotion of European Rice across the Lebanese, Jordanian, and UAE markets.

Figures from the media and F&B wholesale industry, food and lifestyle bloggers, nutrition specialists, key retailers, distributors, and importers of agricultural products participate in each action and are informed on the characteristics, unique quality and special benefits of European Rice.

European Rice Program The program promotes the European Rice in Jordan, Lebanon, and the United Arab Emirates. It aims to raise awareness among the general public, food experts,

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January-February 2022

Biostimulants

V

egetative awakening is a crucial moment for fruit crops: this phase will in fact affect all the stages of the plant’s development, ultimately determining the quantity and quality of production. This is why it is essential to start off on the right foot.

The issues Due to physiological, climatic and environmental factors, bud burst often occurs irregularly. This can occur even if the chilling need of the crop has been met and also in plants on which a dormancy breaking agent has been applied.

On crops such as wine grapes, table grapes and kiwifruit, the phenomenon of apical dominance is very frequent and leads to the faster development of the shoots located at the tip of the branches.

These phenomena have negative effects on the uniformity of flowering, resulting in non-fruiting (loss of production) and uneven ripening of the fruits (prolongation of harvest times).

For stone fruit and pome fruit, it is not uncommon to observe an uneven development of the floral buttons and inflorescences.

Uneven flowering, especially in the self-sterile varieties, causes reduced or lack of fruit set which is followed by substantial productive loss.

For an adequate cross-pollination

January-February 2022

UNIFORM BUD BURST AND FLOWERING: BIOLCHIM'S WINNING SOLUTION it is necessary a synchronous flowering of the pollinating plants with the producing ones.

The solution to improve bud burst and flowering FOLICIST is an innovative biostimulant based on folic acid, glycin betaine, proline, cysteine and plant extracts, which naturally uniforms bud breaking, flowering and fruit setting. FOLICIST favours the balanced development of the plant, reducing apical dominance and preparing the fruits to a uniform enlargement.

During bud breaking, flowering and fruit setting, the plant requires high amounts of energy, proteins, sugars and nucleic acids to support intense cell division.

Folic acid stimulates the synthesis of proteins and nucleic acids, while cysteine and proline are necessary for the production of energy

in the cells. Plant extracts provide anti-stress compounds and natural growth promoters.

With FOLICIST, shoots grow quicker and simultaneously, and flowering is more homogeneous, setting optimal conditions for a uniform ripening of the fruits. Folicist: • r educes apical dominance, even on varieties prone to the problem; • synchronizes flowering, which is essential in varieties that require cross-pollination; • improves fruit set; • favors the balance in plant development, improving its architecture and photosynthetic capacity; • favors uniform ripening of the fruits (concentration of the harvest) and high quality of the harvest.

For more information, visit www.biolchim.it

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Horticulture

AN ECO-SYSTEM APPROACH FOR FOOD PRODUCTION

W

orldwide, there is an increasing demand for selfsufficiency in the production of high-quality, healthy, fresh, and affordable food.

Governments worldwide, and specifically in the Gulf region have launched initiatives to focus on ensuring food security through various means, and are doing great efforts to become more selfsufficient. Partly because of the sustainable development goals and high levels of food waste.

Holistic solutions from the Netherlands for producing food locally in a region with challenging climate conditions, involving water-energy-food simultaneously, can be of great

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use for further ensuring food security in countries worldwide.

We in the Netherlands learned how to deal with extreme weather conditions, as well.

As we are partially located below sea level, we had to learn how to master the threat of water and actually make use of it. The Netherlands has a 150-year history in breeding, producing, and selling food by working closely together with others and for others.

This resulted in a pioneers position in developing innovative solutions for smart agriculture techniques that ensure that crops can be grown year-round in a sustainable way.

We’d like to combine our horticultural knowledge and

experience with the specific challenges in your countries in a long-term partnership.

Knowledge exchange on sustainable food production is not only regional but of global importance to reduce the environmental impact caused by food production.

Together, we have everything in place to achieve your foodsufficiency goals.

Key message 1: How the Dutch do it?

It requires a whole new ecosystem to substantially increase the supply of safe, nutritious and tasty food and reduce the loss of food. We established an ecosystem with an integrated approach.

Important parts of the

January-February 2022

Horticulture

ecosystem are breeding and propagation, growing young plants, growing vegetables and flowers, packaging and logistics, trade, retail and consumer marketing. Our Universities are specialized in technology and agriculture and gained unique knowledge about plants and the interaction with technology. Our continuous collaboration between government, business and applied science institutions, the triple helix, is the key to success. By working together and learning from each other, we as a small country are now leading in the field of sustainable food production.

Key message 2: Consumer needs at the center Consumers are becoming more conscious of sustainability. They prefer fresh, healthy, and affordable food, sustainably produced. We are working on the shortest possible route from fork-to-farm, with the consumer's needs at the center.

This is only possible if more food is produced locally. Local cultivation provides; • Fresh products • Less food lost in the chain • Control over the supply and the cultivation method • A minimal use of water and fertilizers, and • Moreover, there will be sustainable employment with clean and good working conditions.

We are dedicated to creating a long-term partnership to help you to achieve this.

January-February 2022

Key message 3: Help achieve sustainability goals Technological developments in horticulture are moving fast, especially in the field of controlled cultivation. From mid-tech and high-tech greenhouses to fully controlled cultivation systems, using artificial intelligence or robotics. These technological developments allow us to achieve our sustainability goals, such as water and energy savings and the use of plant breeding and natural crop protection. We are eager to share our knowledge and innovative integrated technologies, with you to help achieve: efficient production, and a reduction of food waste, efficient use of scarce resources like land and water, and efficient use of alternative energy resources.

• Efficient production: For comparison; in the Netherlands we grow up to 100 kg tomatoes per crop year per square meter in a controlled environment, where only 15 kg per square meter are harvested in open fields in other parts of the world.

• Efficient use of scarce resources: On a surface area of about a soccer field, you can grow enough vegetables in a tall building for 100,000 people who each eat 250 grams of vegetables every day. (Source: Leo Marcelis, Professor of Horticulture WUR). Moreover, because of the closed system no

pesticides are needed and energy is efficiently used.

• Efficient water use: in a closed high-tech cultivation system, up to 95% water can be saved. We do this by collecting and reusing the water. In this way, nutrients (nitrates and phosphates) are retained without undesirable leakage into ground and surface water.

Dutch horticultural companies have already implemented price-winning technological solutions aimed at growing in a hot and humid climate. These well-tested solutions combined with longterm cultivation support and guidance can provide a yearround production of fresh and healthy food, even in the middle of the desert.

Let’s cooperate in achieving a sustainable, food-secure future We, the Dutch horticultural cluster, would like to help you become more self-sufficient.

You can rely on us for an integral, innovative, and sustainable ecosystem. We do this with a group of driven leaders from the industry. But also with the best universities and knowledge centers.

Naturally supported by our government. We will gladly put you in touch with the right contacts within our powerful triangle. Let’s bind forces, share experiences, and cooperate in achieving a sustainable, foodsecure future!

Like to know how the Dutch eco-system can help increase sustainable local food production? Get in touch with Eric Egberts, CEO of Dutch Greenhouse Delta: eric.egberts@ dutchgreenhousedelta.com or Erik Smidt, Agricultural Counsellor for the GCC: Erik.Smidt@minbuza.nl

www.gulfagriculture.com | Gulf Agriculture

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Planter Bags

ROOT POUCH: THE LARGEST MANUFACTURER OF FABRIC PLANTING BAGS

R

oot Pouch is a fabric grow bag planting pot created and designed

by Horticulturists.

Unlike plastic pots that were designed to simply hold dirt, Root Pouch has perfected five distinctly different fabrics, each offering specific horticultural qualities that enhance the growth of the roots.

Some of their fabrics are made of a natural fiber blend for indoor controlled growing environments, while others are made of 100% synthetic blends for durability and growing outdoors in the elements.

Unlike plastic or woven plastic textiles that offer no horticultural benefits, Root Pouch fabrics provide thermal

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protection, moisture retention, and protection against the harshest environmental conditions.

Root Pouch manufactures all their own fabrics creating a weave that offers breathability and oxygen exchange. This exclusive weave also root prunes while preventing roots from circling, creating a dense fibrous root structure.

Some of their bags were designed with the cooperation and help of one of the largest growers in the world, J. Frank Schmidt & Son Co. Wholesale Nursery in the United States.

Root Pouch products are made 100% from recycled plastic water bottles and natural fibers.

Today, the most significant difference in Root Pouch versus all other bags on the market is the distinctive difference in their fabrics. The different fabrics they

manufacture are not simply different colors or thicknesses but functionality.

Each of their fabrics has its own weave, density, and natural fiber blends of different percentages for particular crops and growing conditions. Now the largest manufacturer of fabric planting bags. Last year Root Pouch consumed over 1200 metric tons of plastic water bottles, all of which did not end up in a landfill.

Root Pouch boasts the best planting containers for your specific growing practices: Horticulture, Agriculture, Hydroponics, and even Aquaponics.

Other fabric bags may look like Root Pouch none perform like Root Pouch.

For more information, visit www.rootpouch.com

January-February 2022

Greenhouses

GROWING IN PLACES WITH EXCEPTIONALLY HIGH TEMPERATURES AND WATER-SCARCITY

I

n the Middle East, many crops are grown in plastic tunnel-shaped greenhouses and net greenhouses. When it comes to net greenhouses, it is especially important to strive for proper monitoring of what happens in the greenhouse during the cultivation process.

This can then be used to actively steer (or adjust) the crop. Data collection and monitoring in a clear dashboard, for example via LetsGrow.com, offer an easy solution and make optimal cultivation possible.

In plastic greenhouses, it is already easier to create an optimum climate with the help of a climate computer and the right angle of approach for cultivation. The principles of Plant Empowerment can be the guiding principle here towards a resilient crop. But for both of these types of greenhouses, it can be too hot in the summer months.

A climate-controlled glass greenhouse offers solutions In this case, one can grow more accurately in a glass greenhouse.

This is because the temperature

January-February 2022

in a glass greenhouse can be controlled more precisely, by cooling the air in the greenhouse while using for example a Pad & Fan system. In the Pad & Fan system, the dry air from the outside is humidified via a Pad wall, which removes the heat from the air. The air cools down and is then blown into the greenhouse. The result is a cooler greenhouse and a more optimal growing climate for the plant. For this reason, the production per m2 in glass greenhouses can be three times higher than in a plastic tunnel greenhouse. The best type of greenhouse and de technologies that you need for optimal growth depends on several factors. For example, the location of the greenhouse or what crop you want to grow.

A smart process computer that gives you insights Ultimately, it all depends on gaining the right knowledge combined with the best suitable technologies for your greenhouses. Whether you are an experienced grower or not.

Ultimately, it starts with

understanding what is happening in the greenhouse.

Especially if there is little cultivation experience, a process computer combined with the right training will make sure that you get that information and that you know how to interpret it.

Also, an easy-to-understand dashboard that one can also easily edit and modify to one's liking, contributes immensely to a better understanding of the activities in the greenhouse.

For example, how much water is used and what the quality of this water is, by looking at the PH value or by measuring how much sunlight enters the greenhouse. A user-friendly system that tells you exactly what is happening in the greenhouse and automatically responds to, is a good solution for any type of greenhouse.

For many years Hoogendoorn Growth Management has been providing solutions and training for growers of any kind and for any type of greenhouse around the world.

For more information, visit www.hoogendoorn.nl

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Z / Z / ŚĂƐ ŚĂƐ ďĞĞŶ ďĞĞŶ ŝŶƐƚĂůůĞĚ ŝŶƐƚĂůůĞĚ ŝŶ ŝŶ Ϯϱ Ϯϱ ǀĞŐĞƚĂďůĞ ǀĞŐĞƚĂďůĞ ŐƌĞĞŶŚŽƵƐĞƐ ǁŝƚŚ Ă ƚŽƚĂů ĂƌĞĂ ŽĨ ϯ͘ϱ ŚĞĐƚĂƌĞƐ ŐƌĞĞŶŚŽƵƐĞƐ ǁŝƚŚ Ă ƚŽƚĂů ĂƌĞĂ ŽĨ ϯ͘ϱ ŚĞĐƚĂƌĞƐ ŝŶ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ ƚŚĞ h h ĂůŽŶĞ͘ ĂůŽŶĞ͘ dŚĞ dŚĞ ĂĚǀĂŶƚĂŐĞƐ ĂĚǀĂŶƚĂŐĞƐ ŽĨ ŽĨ Z /ΖƐ Z /ΖƐ ƉůĂŶƚͲƌĞƐƉŽŶƐŝǀĞ ƉůĂŶƚͲƌĞƐƉŽŶƐŝǀĞ ƐLJƐƚĞŵ ƐLJƐƚĞŵ ŽǀĞƌ ŽǀĞƌ ƚƌĂĚŝƟŽŶĂů ƚƌĂĚŝƟŽŶĂů ŝƌƌŝŐĂƟŽŶ ŝƐ ďĞŝŶŐ ŵŽŶŝƚŽƌĞĚ ĂŶĚ ĂŶĂůLJnjĞĚ ŽŶ ŝƌƌŝŐĂƟŽŶ ŝƐ ďĞŝŶŐ ŵŽŶŝƚŽƌĞĚ ĂŶĚ ĂŶĂůLJnjĞĚ ŽŶ ƚŚĞƐĞ ƉƌŽũĞĐƚƐ͘ ƚŚĞƐĞ ƉƌŽũĞĐƚƐ͘

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DESERT

» KŶĞ ŽĨ ƚŚĞƐĞ ƐƚƵĚŝĞƐ ŝƐ ƚŚĞ dŽŵĂƚŽ dƌŝĂů͘ dŚĞ » KŶĞ ŽĨ ƚŚĞƐĞ ƐƚƵĚŝĞƐ ŝƐ ƚŚĞ dŽŵĂƚŽ dƌŝĂů͘ dŚĞ

Z / Z / ƐLJƐƚĞŵ ƐLJƐƚĞŵ ǁĂƐ ǁĂƐ ŝŶƐƚĂůůĞĚ ŝŶƐƚĂůůĞĚ ŝŶ ŝŶ Ă Ă ŐƌĞĞŶŚŽƵƐĞ ŐƌĞĞŶŚŽƵƐĞ ĨŽƌ ĨŽƌ ϯϱϬϬ ϯϱϬϬ ƚŽŵĂƚŽ ƚŽŵĂƚŽ ƉůĂŶƚƐ ƉůĂŶƚƐ ;ƐĞĞĚůŝŶŐƐ ;ƐĞĞĚůŝŶŐƐ ŝŶ ŝŶ ĐŽĐŽ ĐŽĐŽ ƉĞĂƚ ƉĞĂƚ ŵŝdžͿ͘ ŵŝdžͿ͘ ϯ ϯ ŵŽŶƚŚƐ ŵŽŶƚŚƐ ĂŌĞƌ ĂŌĞƌ ƚŚĞ ƚŚĞ ƚƌĂŶƐƉůĂŶƚĂƟŽŶ͕ ƚƌĂŶƐƉůĂŶƚĂƟŽŶ͕ ƚŽŵĂƚŽ ƚŽŵĂƚŽ ŐƌĞĞŶŚŽƵƐĞ ŐƌĞĞŶŚŽƵƐĞ ƵƐŝŶŐ ƵƐŝŶŐ ƚŚĞ ƚŚĞ Z / Z / ƐLJƐƚĞŵ ƐLJƐƚĞŵ ďĞŐĂŶ ŚĂƌǀĞƐƟŶŐ ϭϬ ĚĂLJƐ ĞĂƌůŝĞƌ ƚŚĂŶ ƚŚĞ ^ / ďĞŐĂŶ ŚĂƌǀĞƐƟŶŐ ϭϬ ĚĂLJƐ ĞĂƌůŝĞƌ ƚŚĂŶ ƚŚĞ ^ / ŐƌĞĞŶŚŽƵƐĞ͕ ŐƌĞĞŶŚŽƵƐĞ͕ ǁŚŝůĞ ǁŚŝůĞ ƵƐŝŶŐ ƵƐŝŶŐ ϯϯй ϯϯй ůĞƐƐ ůĞƐƐ ǁĂƚĞƌ ǁĂƚĞƌ ĂŶĚ ĂŶĚ ϰϬй ϰϬй ůĞƐƐ ůĞƐƐ ĨĞƌƟůŝnjĞƌ͕ ĨĞƌƟůŝnjĞƌ͕ ǁŚŝůĞ ǁŚŝůĞ ĚĞŵŽŶƐƚƌĂƟŶŐ ĚĞŵŽŶƐƚƌĂƟŶŐ ĂŶ ĂŶ ŝŶĐƌĞĂƐĞĚ ĐƌŽƉ LJŝĞůĚ ďLJ ϯϬй͘ ŝŶĐƌĞĂƐĞĚ ĐƌŽƉ LJŝĞůĚ ďLJ ϯϬй͘

FOR FOR ALL ALL ITS ITS EFFORTS, EFFORTS, RDI RDI WON WON THE THE 2021 2021 INNOVATIVE INNOVATIVE CHALLENGE AWARD AT CHALLENGE AWARD AT THE THE AIDEX AIDEX GLOBAL HUMANITARIAN HUMANITARIAN AID AID GLOBAL EVENT, IN IN BRUSSELS. BRUSSELS. EVENT, THE AWARD AWARD WAS WAS GIVEN GIVEN TO TO RDI’S RDI’S THE GROWSTREAM™ TECHNOLOGY TECHNOLOGY GROWSTREAM™ FOR ITS ITS INNOVATION INNOVATION AND AND ABILITY ABILITY FOR TO IMPACT IMPACT SEVERAL SEVERAL OF OF THE THE 2030 2030 TO SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT DEVELOPMENT SUSTAINABLE GOALS. GOALS. 5

Agricultural Machinery

NEW HOLLAND AGRICULTURE’S HORIZON™ ULTRA TRACTOR CAB EARNS ASABE AE50 AWARD FOR 2022

T

he American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) has named New Holland Agriculture’s Horizon Ultra tractor cab a 2022 AE50 award winner. The AE50 awards program emphasizes the role of new products and systems in bringing advanced technology to the marketplace.

These engineering developments help farmers increase efficiency, enhance quality, improve safety, and increase profits. Each year, 50 winners are selected by ASABE, and New Holland Agriculture is pleased to be among the 2022 recipients.

Carlo Lambro, Brand President New Holland Agriculture, stated: “It is always an honor to be included in ASABE’s AE50 annual award winners. These awards are a testament to the strength of the New Holland teams around the world: from the engineers who design our latest innovations to our field teams who work in the field side by side with our farmers to identify our next opportunities, and every step of the journey in between.”

The New Holland Horizon Ultra Tractor Cab From the earliest stages of design, protecting the operator

36 Gulf Agriculture | www.gulfagriculture.com

and preserving comfort was the focus of our engineers’ attention. The Horizon Ultra cab is the quietest in the industry – registering no more than 66 decibels.

In addition to the noise reduction, the cab has been expanded overall by 8% compared to prior models. The enlarged frame creates more comfortable and functional room for the operator and extra storage space.

The spacious cab provides a supremely comfortable work environment with clean, uncluttered surfaces and intuitive operation with ergonomically located controls on the new SideWinder™ Ultra armrest and user-friendly IntelliView™ 12-inch display.

The controls can be configured to match the operator’s preferences, and customization is as simple and extensive as desired. The CenterView™ display placed in the center of the steering wheel – an industry first – provides a clear line of sight. The new classleading automatic climate control system with zone selection, which has 35% more capacity than the previous model, easily maintains a comfortable temperature in all seasons. The top-of-the-range Auto Comfort™ seat features

lateral suspension and a climate control system that extracts moisture on hot days or warms on cold mornings.

The Horizon Ultra cab’s advanced connectivity enables customers to bring their digital life on board effortlessly, as their mobile device automatically connects to the screen and can be operated with a button on the armrest.

The Horizon Ultra cab also introduces integration with New Holland’s next-generation PLM Intelligence, which represents a step forward in New Holland’s Precision Land Management strategy. It marks the shift from traditional farming practices to agriculture 4.0., where Precision and Interconnected Farming assists farmers to plan all operations in advance, manage in real time the behavior and performance of

January-February 2022

Agricultural Machinery

each machine, and achieve maximum precision and efficiency.

The next-generation PLM Intelligence™ is a new electronic architecture that will be adopted in all New Holland next-generation equipment, so that customers will find the same logic when switching machines and easily access data to get the job done more efficiently. This is part of New Holland’s strategy to integrate digital technologies to deliver a smart and connected agriculture, with easy-to-use solutions that make farming more sustainable and productive.

They include the traditional precision farming applications aimed at making the operator’s life easier while optimizing yield and input costs; solutions based on connectivity and monitoring focused on

January-February 2022

improving the machine’s productivity; and cloud-based solutions built on data analysis and planning to facilitate farm

management decisions.

For more information, visit www.newholland.com

www.gulfagriculture.com | Gulf Agriculture

37

Feed Solutions

CHELATED MINERALS, COMPLEXES AND INORGANIC SALTS Authors: Giovanni Predieri Roberto Barea Silvia Peris

D

uring the first decade of this century, a large number of studies have shown that the bioavailability of trace elements can be improved when they are supplemented as chelates (Jondreville and Revy, 2003; Ballarini and Predieri, 2007; Liu et al., 2014). The benefits provided by chelated minerals with respect to inorganic sources can be attributed to: (a) absence of free metal cations (Fe2+, Mn2+, Cu2+, etc.) responsible for feed deterioration through free radicals formation; (b) protection of minerals from interaction with phytates and oxalates and from antagonism with other minerals; and (c) less mineral excretion into the environment.

The classification of the trace elements according to the Register of Feed Additives of the

38 Gulf Agriculture | www.gulfagriculture.com

EU is not the ideal since the chemical nature of the different mineral additives is not taken into account. In fact, not all amino acid (AA) and mineral aggregations lead to chelated compounds (Ballarini and Predieri, 2007). This forces us to make a better distinction between mineral complexes and true chelates.

The nature of the chemical bond The chemical bond is the mutual attraction between atoms that allows the formation of chemical compounds.

Depending on the nature of the atomic interactions, three categories of chemical bonds exist in nature: ionic, covalent, and metallic (the latter will not be described in this article). An ionic bond forms when oppositely charged ions (anions

and cations) attract each other.

This type of bond occurs between metals (cations: Zn, Ca, Mn, etc.) and non-metal (anions: S, O, etc.). A covalent bond is characterized by the exchange of one or more pairs of electrons between atoms. A special type of this bond is the dative, or coordinated, covalent bond, which occurs when one atom gives both electrons (donor) to another atom that receives them (acceptor).

Chelates are special complexes Coordinated covalent bonds can produce chelates (chele = clamps), if the arrangement of donor atoms around the mineral forms a chelation ring (Figure 1). From the chemical point of view, there are four main classes of “organic” minerals marketed in feed

January-February 2022

Feed Solutions animal industry: (a) mineral complexes with AA or peptides derived from protein lysates, called proteinates; (b) mineral complexes of a single AA such as glycine (Gly) with a welldefined formula (eg, Zn(HGly) SO4), called improperly glycinates or “mono-chelates”; (c) minerals chelated with a single AA, with well-defined formula (eg Zn(Gly)2), known as AA bis-chelates; and (d) minerals chelated with hydroxy analogue of methionine (HMTBa) of well defined formula (eg, Zn(HMTBa)2, which are bis-chelates of HMTBa (MINTREX®, Novus International, Inc.).

Class (a) contains simple complexes since oligopeptides cannot form a double chelation ring: mineral cations can only interact with terminal amino or carboxylate groups. Class (b) is based on molecules such as Zn(HGly)SO4, whose crystalline structure clearly shows a nonchelating behavior in which glycine is bound to Zn only through the carboxylate oxygen (Figure 2A). Class (c) refers to true AA chelates but whose stability decreases when the pH of the medium diminishes.

Finally, Class (d) includes true HMTBa chelates (Figure 2B), which resist better than AA to the low pH value found, for example, in the upper parts of the gastrointestinal tract of the animal. This is due to the stronger acid characterisctic of HMTBa, which is less susceptible to be protonated in acid media (Predieri et al., 2003; 2005) (Figure 2B). Fouriertransform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) allows the identification and quantification of the products from classes (b) to (d), being able to distinguish simple complexes (as in class b) from true chelates (classes c and d) (Predierietal., 2009).

January-February 2022

Trace mineral bioavailability in livestock animals The bioavailability of a mineral is generally defined as a proportion of the total mineral in feed that is utilized for normal body functions. It has been traditionally estimated as the mineral retention in the animal tissues (Underwood and Suttle, 1999). More recently, the use of biomarkers has allowed to know the bioavailability of a mineral in a more precise way.

An example is that of the metallothionein protein, whose expression in the intestinal mucosa is regulated by the amount of mineral (mainly Zn and Cu) absorbed. Figure 3 shows the result of an experiment that compared the bioavailability of various Zn sources by measuring metallothionein mRNA expression in the intestine of broilers (Richards et al., 2007; 2008). The birds were fed a control diet or diets supplemented with 70 ppm of Zn from different sources. The results showed a higher metallothionein mRNA expression in animals supplemented with MINTREX®Zn, indicating that it was the source that provided the highest bioavailability.

Conclusions Feeding a chemically welldefined, stable and highly bioavailable trace mineral source is an important key to optimize the growth potential and animal welfare. True chelated minerals, such as MINTREX®, have the potential to deliver trace minerals more effectively to the tissues of the animal, improving its metabolic functions and, consequently, its productive performance.

For more information, contact info.europe@novusint.com

Figure 1. Sketches of an amino acid (AA) acting as a chelated ligand (crab claws); (bottom) an iron (II) cation chelated by a deprotonated AA (the other AA forming the bis-chelate is omitted for simplicity) (Ballarini and Predieri, 2007).

A

B

Figure 2. Molecular structures in the solid state of: (a) Zn glycine complex (Zn(HGly)(H2O)3SO4) (Cambridge Structural Database); (b) Zn(HMTBa)2.2H2O, showing the two chelating rings between the HMTBa anions around Zn (Novus International, Inc.).

Figure 3. Metallothionein mRNA expression in the intestinal mucosa of broilers as an indicator of Zn bioavailability (Richards et al., 2007; 2008).

www.gulfagriculture.com | Gulf Agriculture

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