Abu Dhabi-based agriculture company Al Dahra Holding has announced the launch of a rice-processing factory in the capital’s Khalifa Industrial Zone (Kizad) as a means of boosting the country’s food security.
The Dh140 million plant, run by Al Dahra unit Al Dahra Kohinoor, has 40 silos, each with a capacity of 750 tonnes, and will process up to 120,000 tonnes of rice per year, Al Dahra said in a statement on Tuesday.
The primary purpose of the plant, spanning 100,000 square metres, is to increase the UAE’s food security by having major production facilities within the country’s borders, according to an Al Dahra official who asked not to be named.
The Al Dahra Kohinoor plant will handle the full production cycle of rice, sourced from India and Pakistan, including milling, processing, storage, packaging as well as distribution within the UAE, the company said.
Al Dahra acquired a 20 per cent stake in India’s Kohinoor Foods for US$18.8m in 2013.
The same Al Dahra official said that the plant was also a commercially viable enterprise, and that rice produced would be exported to the wider GCC, East Asia and other global markets.
“Al Dahra Kohinoor strategically supports the vision of our wise leadership to achieve food security in Abu Dhabi, which reflects our commitment to boosting the industrial sector in order to diversify the economy in line with Abu Dhabi’s strategic plan for economic development,” said Khadim Al Darei, Al Dahra Holding’s vice chairman.
The UAE is one of the world’s largest consumers of rice per capita, with consumption expected to hit 836,000 tonnes during 2016-17 marketing year, a year-on-year increase of 16 per cent, according to the foreign agriculture service of the US department of agriculture.
Al Dahra Holding, which has a long-standing partnership with the Abu Dhabi Government on food security, said that it aims to create a strategic rice reserve in Abu Dhabi of about 30,000 tonnes.
The company owns forage cultivation lands, processing and baling facilities in the United States, Spain, South Africa, Egypt and Pakistan and operates a major forage sourcing, trading and distribution hub out of Italy.
The company last year signed an agreement with Jordan for the annual supply of 400,000 tonnes of wheat and 400,000 tonnes of barley, to improve the UAE’s food security.
jeverington@thenational.ae
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