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29 March 2024

Abu Dhabi farmers to get Dh100k to save water

Published
By Reuters
 
Abu Dhabi will begin to pay grants of Dh100,000 ($27,230) per year in cash in addition to other aid to farmers to refrain from water-intensive cultivation in the Gulf emirate, its food control authority said on Monday.
The farmers will receive aid beginning in August, Mohamed Jalal al-Reyaysa, head of communication and community service at Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority (ADFCA), told Reuters by telephone.
The conditions tied to the disbursal of government assistance will raise the bar on farming practices in the emirate in terms of profitability and environmental soundness, said al-Reyaysa. “Non-cultivation of animal feeds, especially the water-intensive Rhodes grass, is one of the principal conditions for receiving government aid,” he said in a statement.
“Animal growers among the farmers are, however, permitted to cultivate feeds in a limited area for feeding their privately owned livestock.”
Abu Dhabi is estimated to consume 550 litres of water per person per day – two to three times the world average of 180-200 litres.
To ease groundwater use, about 60 per cent of consumption in the desert country, the UAE has invested heavily in desalination, producing 9 million cubic metres of water daily at $18m a day.
The payment of grants will be only to farmers who comply with the rules and regulations on preservation of water resources and the modernization of farming in the emirate, the ADFCA said in the statement.
If farmers stop the cultivation of Rhodes grass, a species of forage grass cultivated in dry regions, they will be entitled to the grant.
The UAE has said it will spend $1.6b to improve infrastructure in less developed northern emirates, has raised military pensions by 70 per cent and has introduced bread and rice subsidies. Sources have said plans to hike fuel prices were also delayed.
“With the grants, they will have other fruits and vegetables they will be able to market through the Farmers’ Services Centre. So the total amount will be higher than the amount of the grant,” the official said, adding there were 25,000 farms in Abu Dhabi.