Massive carpet of green over UAE desert to get bigger as Sharjah wheat farm expansion announced

Massive carpet of green over UAE desert to get bigger as Sharjah wheat farm expansion announced

Work underway to boost cultivation area by five times to reach 1,900 hectares

People work at a wheat farm in Sharjah's Mleiha, which has turned a UAE desert into a green land. — Reuters

By Ruqayya AlQaidi and Sahim Salim Published: Wed 26 Apr 2023, 6:00 AM

A massive carpet of green that took over a desert in Sharjah’s Mleiha is about to get bigger. The wheat farm had bloomed over 400 hectares of land and produced over 200 tonnes of high-quality yield. And now, the Sharjah Ruler has issued directives to speed up its expansion to 1,900 hectares.

According to the team working on the project, preparations for expanding the cultivation area by five times are already underway. Seeds are expected to be sown in November this year.

The 400-hectare farm was phase 1 of the project that yielded high-quality wheat in March 2023.

The original plan was to double the farm size by 2024 as part of phase 2 of the project, and make it a 1,900-hectare green oasis by 2025 (phase 3).

However, His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, directed the authorities concerned to merge the second and third phases.

Called ‘Saba Sanabel’, which means