Agritech, or agricultural technology, leverages the latest technological advancements to make food production as efficient as possible. Agritech does not stop at the growing of food, but rather covers the entire food supply chain, making farming and distribution processes more productive and efficient.
Dr. David Rose is an associate professor of Agricultural Innovation and Extension at the University of Reading in the United Kingdom. He points out that many associate agritech with robotics, AI, or gene-edited organisms, whereas the industry actually includes much simpler concepts, such as tractors, combine harvesters, and milking machines.
Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, global investment in agritech continued to grow, reaching $2.12 billion in 2021. Investors are spending heavily, supporting early-stage startups developing new tech to aid farmers.
The Middle East is a largely desert area, with scorching temperatures, a lack of arable land, and a scarcity of water resources. This combination of factors culminates in huge challenges when it comes to agriculture, with many Middle Eastern nations forced to import the majority of their food stock from other countries. Experts estimate that in the region today, around 85% of food is imported from abroad.
Dependence on imports is risky, as highlighted by supply chain disruptions triggered by Covid-19. In addition, with the regional population predicted to grow by 50% by 2050, many countries across the MENA region are seeking out innovative new ways to feed an increasingly urbanized population.
In this article, we look at three Middle Eastern agritech startups poised for huge success in 2023 and beyond.
1. Palmear
Palmear’s technology platform was created to enable farmers to determine the location of early pest infestations, enabling them to take evasive action through the use of targeted pesticides. This simple-to-navigate platform relies on sound to help farmers detect pests, whether infestations are on the ground or in trees. Armed with this innovative tool, farmers can optimize pest responses, helping them to be more environmentally friendly.
Defined as a real-time pest management tool that enables farmers and stakeholders to make data-driven decisions, Palmear combines the power of AI, big data, and audio engineering to address a major problem that affects farmers all over the world, facilitating the early detection of pests.
Enabling an integrated pest management approach to monitoring pests and disease on both a farm-by-farm and national level, Palmear detects pests in real time, mapping hot spots on a farm and country level, monitoring pest populations, and producing actionable data via its innovative early reporting system.
2. Pure Harvest Farms
Having attracted more than $334 million in investment to date, this UAE-based company was founded in 2016 by Mahmoud Ali, Robert Kupstas, and Sky Kurtz.
Pure Harvest Farms is an agritech company that focuses on the year-round production of premium quality fruits and vegetables. Not only did the company make history as the first startup to receive funding in the agritech sector, but it also ranks first in terms of the most funded company in the whole of the MENA startup ecosystem, having secured $180 million in investment in the last funding round alone.
Pure Harvest Farms was launched with the mission of reimagining farming and revolutionizing food production, embarking on its quest in pursuit of a sustainable future by challenging traditional farming methods. The company harnesses the power of science, the wonders of nature, and the passion of its workforce to produce delicious, affordable local produce year-round.
Created to contribute to food security even in an arid climate, Pure Harvest Farms’ agricultural systems have proven to be seven times more efficient than typical desert greenhouse farms and 30 times more efficient than traditional field farming.
3. Red Sea Farms
Headquartered in Thuwal, Saudi Arabia, and founded by Ryan Lefers in 2018, Red Sea Farms harnesses the power of sea water to cool greenhouses and irrigate specialized crops, lessening the need for fresh-water waste in agriculture.
Rather than relying on desalination, which is actually an incredibly energy-intensive process, Red Sea Farms replaces up to 95% of fresh water used for evaporative cooling with salt water.
Having attracted more than $38 million in investments to date, Red Sea Farms offers a diverse range of produce technologies, as well as consultancy services. The startup’s patent-pending technology enables hydroponic farms and greenhouses to grow larger amounts of better-quality food with less water and energy, driving down costs while sustainably increasing profits.
Using greenhouses equipped with special panels developed by Iyris Technologies capable of passively blocking out heat and also producing solar energy, Red Sea Farms produces organic, pesticide-free, non-GMO fresh produce for distribution across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with plans to expand into the UAE.
Red Sea Farms aims to unlock the potential of agriculture in harsh environments while simultaneously reducing the water and carbon footprint of the food sector, designing and developing innovative, sustainable agriculture technologies capable of operating even in the harshest environments.