The UAE’s National Agriculture Centre has become a strategic government partner of Growtech Middle East, the agricultural exhibition opening this week at the Dubai World Trade Centre. The centre will use the event, running from 26 to 28 October, to showcase its Good Agricultural Practices standards and its Integrated Farmer Centres project to farmers and investors across the region.
National Agriculture Centre Director General Sultan Salem Al Shamsi said “UAE farmers are at the heart of the country’s agricultural ambitions,” framing the partnership as support for farmers working to meet the country’s food security targets. The centre’s Integrated Farmer Centres project covers crop receiving, logistics, post-harvest handling and market access, services designed to help Emirati farmers reach buyers more efficiently.
Growtech Middle East, formerly known as Agra Middle East, carries the theme “Powering the Future of Agriculture Growth and Food Security in the Middle East” this year. Exhibits span seeds, plant nutrition, greenhouse and irrigation technology, machinery, poultry, animal health, livestock and aquaculture, reflecting the breadth of the UAE’s push to expand domestic food production.
Partnership ties into national food security strategy
The government partnership places the National Agriculture Centre’s work within the UAE National Food Security Strategy 2051, the country’s long-term framework for reducing reliance on food imports. Alan Kelly, Commercial and Strategy Director at organiser InD Group, said the arrangement “brings an important government dimension to Growtech Middle East,” linking the exhibition more directly to state agricultural priorities.
Growtech itself has a 25-year history, headquartered in Antalya, Turkey, and already operating editions in Lagos, Nigeria, and Rimini, Italy. Growtech Events Exhibition Director Engin Er described the Dubai edition as a significant next chapter for the brand, connecting its international network with what he called a dynamic regional market.
Dubai edition arrives as region tightens food policy
The Growtech Middle East exhibition in Dubai lands in the same week that Dubai’s own Environment and Climate Change Authority announced the separate Dubai Food Security Strategy 2030, underscoring how food security has become a recurring policy theme across the UAE this October. Organisers expect exhibitors from the seed, greenhouse technology and livestock sectors to pursue new contracts with Emirati buyers.
Neither the National Agriculture Centre nor Growtech has released attendance projections or exhibitor numbers for this year’s edition. The partnership’s practical effect, organisers say, will become clearer once the three-day event opens and government officials meet directly with exhibitors and farmers at Hall 8.
