UAE start-up Pure Harvest is aiming to resolve the growing issue of food security in the country through high-tech "smart" greenhouses that maintain a controlled climate and optimal conditions for growing on a year-round basis.
Pure Harvest
The company has established a proof-of-concept facility in the Abu Dhabi desert, where temperatures can exceed 50 degrees Celsius.
The company is currently producing several varieties of tomatoes but intends to branch out into aubergines, cucumbers and other vine crops.
Justin Codrai/Pure Harvest
Conditions are maintained through sensors that allow monitors to optimize heat, light, and other variables.
Pure Harvest also use bees, imported from Europe, to pollinate crops.
Pure Harvest
The company produced its first harvest in November 2018 and hopes to scale up rapidly.
It aims to raise $160-$180 million and eventually have 50 hectares of greenhouse space for cultivation.
Pure Harvest
One of the finished products.
Pure Harvest
Pure Harvest CEO Sky Kurtz has been visiting trade shows in the region to enlist new partners.
Pure Harvest
"Smart" farms are increasingly popular field in the country and region, such as Crop One Holding's vertical farm at Dubai International Airport.
courtesy Crop One Holdings
University of Sheffield academics Professor Duncan Cameron and Dr. Jacob Nickles designed a smart, sensor-filled greenhouse to cultivate produce in Oman.
Dr. Jacob Nickles
Concept design for solar-powered smart farm in the Tunisian desert, an initiative of the Sahara Forest Project.
SFP
The Sahara Forest Project uses an evaporative cooling system to convert humidity into water to sustain plants.
