U.S. vertical farming company AeroFarms has started construction in the United Arab Emirates on a huge research center focused on the latest developments for indoor vertical farming, innovation, and AgTech.

In partnership with the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO), AeroFarms AgX will bring innovative research and development to the UAE and the Middle East to advance sustainable controlled environment agriculture (CEA) and vertical farming and help address broader global agriculture supply chain issues.

At 54,000 square feet, AeroFarms AgX will be the largest indoor vertical farm of its kind for research and development in the world, leading the way in breakthrough innovation to solve some of the world’s most pressing agriculture challenges.

AeroFarms AgX will employ a projected 60 highly skilled engineers, horticulturists and scientists and will have high-tech laboratories conducting organoleptic research and precision phenotyping, phytochemical analysis, advanced speed breeding, as well as next-generation machine vision, machine learning, robotics, and automation.

AeroFarms AgX will also play a key role in Abu Dhabi’s AgTech ecosystem by working with local universities on research projects to tackle problems of agriculture within desert and arid climates.

Last year, ADIO announced that it is providing $150 million in incentives to bring global AgTech pioneers to Abu Dhabi, including its partnership with AeroFarms to build a vertical farming facility dedicated to developing next-generation agriculture in arid and desert climates.

The transformational R&D conducted at AeroFarms AgX is expected to enable new business lines, technologies, and growth of the AeroFarms platform while serving as a hub for regional expansion. AeroFarms AgX is expected to be completed and operational in the first quarter of 2022.

David Rosenberg, Co-Founder and CEO of AeroFarms, commented: “This is an important development for AeroFarms as we expand globally and leverage our R&D and growing expertise."

"AeroFarms has been the global leader for controlled environment agriculture since 2004, and we will utilize this cutting-edge R&D Center to conduct the latest research in plant science, vertical farming and automation, accelerating innovation cycles and commercializing products."

"Our vision has always been to leverage our expertise in plant biology and build on our successful history of collaborating with government, universities, industry and major international companies. We are pleased to take this step forward and proud to be a catalyst for helping to establish the Emirate of Abu Dhabi as a global hub for AgTech innovation.”