In our latest Seed Matters blog, we spoke with Riaz Bava, Strategic Advisor, to learn about his role, hear how Gulf farmers manage weather, import, and land challenges, and discover how ActivatedAir is changing the landscape in the Middle East.
What is Your Role in Agriculture?
I don’t come from a traditional farming background; I’ve spent over three decades helping companies expand across the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia, including sectors with an agri-tech, water, and sustainability focus.
Over the last five to six years, I’ve worked closely with early-stage agri-tech solutions, especially in areas such as seed health, post-harvest technology, and indoor farming systems.
My role has been to help these companies validate their value proposition, navigate regulatory landscapes and find the right commercial fit for the Gulf market.
I’ve had the opportunity to engage directly with owners, growers, food producers, as well as greenhouses and a range of other [indoor farming] setups, including container farms.
What Challenges Do Growers Face in the Gulf?
If you look at the Gulf and the Middle East as a whole, extreme temperatures are one of the biggest, most significant problems.
Our temperatures can get to over 50 degrees, which is alarming, especially in the food sector. Considering these conditions, growers are forced to adapt to technologies that bring innovation, allowing them to increase production and ensure food security.
Growers sow treated seeds, untreated seeds, and pelleted seeds from various suppliers. Seeds are usually imported from Europe, Holland, and other countries. Businesses rely heavily on imported seeds due to their high quality, which often face customs delays during importation. With these potential delays, growers tend to be put into positions of not having enough seeds to last the long run, and so it is crucial that they get the best out of their current crop cycles.
Examining the marketplace, particularly in this region for farming, you’ll notice that these are some of the key areas for farmers to consider. Though it is necessary, the high dependency on international suppliers for inputs inevitably raises costs, and this can impact the overall expenses.
With heavy expenses like these, farmers find that they need to turn to sustainable technology that can help cut costs in the long run and also secure their production.
Is Indoor Farming the Way Forward?
Yes. When you look at indoor farms, they focus on spaces such as greenhouses. However, greenhouses take priority over vertical farms because vertical farms are still relatively new to the market.
Operating greenhouses is costly. With our solution, ActivatedAir, we can provide a suitable solution that addresses core issues, such as seed treatment and pathogen control, without the use of chemicals or water. This gives farmers an advantage.
In the indoor farm sector, where space, hygiene, and resource efficiency are critical, ActivatedAir offers a scalable, plug-and-play solution that ensures healthier, cleaner crops from the start. It helps eliminate fungus spores, increases germination rates, and improves root health—all without compromising the indoor farming environment.
What Benefits Are Growers Seeing with ActivatedAir?
Almost immediately, growers experience benefits such as a reduction in the number of days from initial growth to harvest for untreated seeds. This results in faster growth cycles and quicker harvesting, allowing you to grow multiple crops and gain a lead time. Additionally, they develop stronger roots and improved germination.
Furthermore, if disease pressure remains within certain limits, it can reduce the spread of fungi during growth. Over the long term, growers also observe improved consistency across batches, with fewer losses during storage and a more predictable yield. Since ActivatedAir requires no water or chemicals, it is also cost-effective and environmentally friendly.
This makes it increasingly crucial for Gulf State growers to aim for sustainable benchmarks. Many of our customers have reported that it has helped them save on fungicides and improve seeding uniformity, resulting in a better return on investment.
What Does the Future Look Like?
The future looks promising. If you observe the landscape of the Middle East, the two largest countries in terms of investment in the agricultural sector are Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Agritech uptake is currently at its highest level it has ever been, aiming to provide all the support it can to farmers and reduce our reliance on food imports.
Little is grown locally here, which makes it very challenging if conflicts arise and suddenly food supplies are cut off. This creates a significant problem. That’s why governments are now allocating land and dedicating funds from sovereign and wealth funds to support farmers. Banks are offering easier loans to farmers to facilitate access to capital for innovation and technology.
Indoor farming is seen as a necessity for ensuring long-term viability and sustainability. In the future, they will continue to grow, but greenhouses will likely endure even longer, as many are shifting towards this approach, especially in Saudi Arabia.
However, as time progresses and more players adopt better technology and innovations, improvements will begin to occur. People will realise they need to switch to indoor farms because they require less long-term investment—mainly a one-time expense—allowing operations to run efficiently for 25 to 30 years.
Find out More
If you’re interested in finding out more about ActivatedAir technology and how it can fit into your facility, reach out to our Business Development Manager for the Gulf, Robert Woods, via the contact form below.
LinkedIn: Riaz Bava.