Abu Dhabi is looking to secure the seeds of the future. Sovereign wealth fund ADQ is in talks to acquire 35% of the vegetable seed division of Limegrain, a French agricultural cooperative that is the world’s top producer of numerous crops — including carrot, cauliflower, and tomato — as the UAE looks to reduce its reliance on food imports while addressing future threats from climate change.
Limegrain and Silal, an ADQ agri-tech portfolio company, would establish a research and development joint venture focused on desert-adapted vegetables as part of the deal. The collaboration would look to develop genetic modifications to seeds that make crops more resilient to extreme heat, drought, and saltier soil. R&D would be conducted at Silal’s greenhouses and labs in Al Ain. The UAE imports as much as 90% of its food, but wants to reduce that to 50% by 2050.