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Focus Areas

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.

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.

Proposed solutions for either problem statement must be suitable for deployment in the UAE and in locations with similar weather and climate conditions.

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.

Competing teams will undergo a process of evaluation and selection to identify the most innovative, impactful, and practically deployable solutions. Teams will contribute to this process through live pitches, site visits and by piloting their solution in the UAE to demonstrate its potential real-world impact.

The Al Miyah Challenge for Agriculture is open to teams working on innovative technologies in any of the following categories:

vision vision
Circular solutions encompassing two or more of the above components.
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Alternate water supply.
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Water consumption reduction technologies for outdoor or indoor farming, including cooling.
vision vision
Cost and energy efficient water quality treatments to make groundwater fit for farming, including but not limited to removal of salt.
vision vision
Soil enhancement or crop modification technologies to reduce water uptake.

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.

Judges will assess applications across the following key criteria:

01.
A cost benefit ratio which is commercially attractive for local farmers.
02.
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.
03.
A track record with achievements in research, development, and commercialization, including patents, publications, prior competition success, and industry recognition.
04.
Teams addressing smallholders specifically should prepare to have a dedicated deployment and training plan to ensure their solution can be adapted by farmhands.
05.
Partnerships with universities, startups, or companies.
06.
All solutions must demonstrate sustainability, resilience, safety, reliability and ease of maintenance.
Key dates
Danger
Finalists will have up to 12 months for testing
14 April 2025
Open call for participation
30 June 2025
Close call for participation
w/c 8 Sep 2025
Top 20 qualifying teams announcement
15 Sep 2025
Pitching starts
20 Sept 2025
Shortlist
15 Oct 2025
Finalists confirmed
15 Nov 2025
Pilots kick-off
Q1/2 2026
Finalists announcement
Nov 2025 - Apr 2026
Testing​ (Outdoor track​)
Nov 2025 -​ Nov 2026
Testing​ (Indoor track)
2 Dec 2026
Winning Team (1 team) – 2nd and 3rd runner-up announcement

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