Why has the Middle East become a promising market for smart agriculture?

The highest temperature in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from July to August reaches 48℃. The annual average monthly temperature is also around 19.1∼37.2℃. On the other hand, the average annual rainfall is 42 mm and the farmland area is only 0.4% of the entire country. It is difficult to grow crops stably in the open field. The UAE imports 80% of the food consumed annually. The situation in all Middle Eastern countries is not much different. According to the ‘Agricultural Outlook 2018-2027’ of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the production amount per unit area of agricultural land in the Middle East and North Africa (as of 2001-2014) is only half of the world average. Recently, problems such as lack of groundwater and excessive soil salinity are also occurring. This is why major Middle Eastern countries with strong oil money are investing heavily in ‘smart agriculture’, which ...