Al Miyah Challenge for Agriculture in United Arab Emirates

Aims

• The Al Miyah Challenge for Agriculture aims to support innovation in the development of technological solutions which reduce the consumption of water in agriculture while maintaining or improving crop yield.

Focus Areas

• Specifically, the Al Miyah Challenge for Agriculture is seeking promising technological solutions in the following areas:
  • Problem Statement A:
    • Solutions for improving sustainable irrigation practices and reducing overall water consumption in agriculture.
  • Problem Statement B
    • Solutions for optimizing controlled environment agriculture designs for greenhouses and net houses, including water use for cooling.

Funding Information

• The challenge offers an approximately USD 2 million (AED 8 million) prize, with approximately USD 1 million (AED 4 million) awarded to the first-place winner.

Eligibility Criteria

• The Al Miyah Challenge for Agriculture is open to teams working on innovative technologies in any of the following categories:
  • Water consumption reduction technologies for outdoor or indoor farming, including cooling.
  • Cost and energy efficient water quality treatments to make groundwater fit for farming, including but not limited to removal of salt.
  • Soil enhancement or crop modification technologies to reduce water uptake.
  • Circular solutions encompassing two or more of the above components.
  • Alternate water supply.
• At the time of registration, eligible teams must have solutions with a proven feasibility ready to be piloted in the UAE during the Al Miyah Challenge for Agriculture period and subsequently deployed to farms with a wide level of applicability in the UAE and the potential to be deployed in regions with similar weather and climate conditions such as the GCC region or Sub-Saharan Africa.
• Applicants must propose solutions addressing one of the problem statements. If an applicant wishes to address both problem statements, two distinct proposals need to be submitted.

Assessment Criteria

• Judges will assess applications across the following key criteria:
  • A cost benefit ratio which is commercially attractive for local farmers.
  • Proposal strength including a well-defined problem statement solution proposal, the level of innovation, a clear description of the technology and easy- to-understand operations and maintenance instructions.
  • A track record with achievements in research, development, and commercialization, including patents, publications, prior competition success, and industry recognition.
  • Teams addressing smallholders specifically should prepare to have a dedicated deployment and training plan to ensure their solution can be adapted by farmhands.
  • Partnerships with universities, startups, or companies.
  • All solutions must demonstrate sustainability, resilience, safety, reliability and ease of maintenance.

For more information, visit The Mohamed bin Zayed Water Initiative.