Smart agricultural technology turns deserts into farmlands in UAE

China

Smart agricultural technology turns deserts into farmlands in UAE

2025-02-15 21:44 Last Updated At：02-16 00:17

The success of the wheat farm in Sharjah of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) marks an important step in enhancing food self-sufficiency for the country.

The UAE has long relied on food imports, importing about 1.7 million tons of wheat each year.

Against the desert sands of Sharjah, the wheat farm, which applies desalinated water for irrigation, commenced operations in 2022 and is expected to expand to 1,900 hectares by the end of this year.

Experts report that a major milestone has been achieved with the successful cultivation of locally adapted wheat varieties in specialized breeding fields, tailored to thrive in the UAE's unique climate conditions.

Meanwhile, the smart irrigation system, which employs ground sensors and weather stations to monitor soil moisture in real time, enables the precise irrigation control to ensure healthy crop growth even under extreme conditions.

Furthermore, only a dozen workers are required to manage wheat cultivation on the 1,900-hectare farm, with irrigation and fertilization operations precisely controlled by advanced digital systems.

"We started planting in October till March, and within this season, as I mentioned, we have used state-of-the-art technologies. We have thermal satellite imagery, daily ones that can tell us more than 17 kinds of data that we can get out of it. For example, the soil moisture, the nitrogen in the soil, the water status of the soil and so on," explained Abdelaziz Hassooni, Programmer at the Sharjah Agriculture and Livestock Department.

In the future, this farm will not only supply the local market but may also become a model for desert agriculture, providing a reference for other regions.

Spring Festival moviegoing becomes new tradition as box office hits record

People across China have embraced a new tradition of watching movies on the the Spring Festival or first day of the Chinese New Year, with with this year's box office hitting a record high of over 1.27 billion yuan (about 186 million U.S. dollars) on that day alone.

Single-day box office revenue on the Spring Festival, which fell on February 17 this year, reached 1.278 billion yuan. Notably, nearly 60 percent of moviegoers purchased tickets the same day, the highest in six years, according to data from Maoyan, a leading Chinese movie ticketing and data platform.

"The total number of screenings during the 2026 Spring Festival film season exceeded 4.34 million, setting a new historical high. On the Spring Festival alone, 595,000 screenings were recorded, setting a new single-day record. Watching a film on the first day of the Chinese New Year has evolved from a casual holiday option into a new festive tradition," said Lai Li, a market analyst at Maoyan.

During the Spring Festival film season, which ran from February 15 to February 23, third- and fourth-tier cities posted strong performances in box office revenue, contributing nearly 60 percent of the total.