Rice grown in the UAE desert

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UAE grows its own rice in game-changing sustainability project Read the full story here: https://bit.ly/2XuTZQI  See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos  Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km  #UAE #rice #food

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00:00Rice is being grown at a farm in Sharjah, and the UAE's Ministry of Climate Change

00:09and Environment has announced it has the potential to shape the future of agriculture not just

00:14in the country, but also regionally.

00:17The pioneering project was carried out at the ministry's research center in Al-Daid,

00:23Sharjah.

00:24Seeds were sowed in November last year and harvested in three stages last month, after

00:29completing a growth cycle of 180 days.

00:33To facilitate the monitoring and recording of results, the plot was divided into three

00:38blocks.

00:39The first block was harvested on May 5, the second block on May 10, and the third block

00:44on May 30.

00:45The pilot phase showed positive results, following a yield of 763 kg of rice per 1,000 m2.

00:55The types of rice grown were the short-grained asimi, which is extensively cultivated and

00:59consumed in China, Japan, and Korea, and the long-grained FL-478 variety, more popularly

01:05known as basmati.

01:08According to Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, the project experts selected

01:11the two rice varieties because of their ability to tolerate heat, salinity, and poor soil

01:17conditions.

01:20The research team has installed an underground drip irrigation system to address the challenge

01:24of water scarcity and also to reduce the cost and the amount of water used for the crops.

01:30However, the harvested rice will only be put to commercial use after the completion of

01:36testing to ensure its compliance with standard specifications.

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