Electricity and Control June 2025

Industry 4.0 + IIoT

Digital technologies – transforming agriculture in arid regions The Middle East, covering almost 7.3 million km 2 and with an estimated population of more than 500 million, is one of the world’s key regions. Yet it faces considerable challenges. In such a broadly arid region, the impacts of climate change are acute. Rising global temperatures, changes in precipitation patterns, and extreme weather events threaten food security as they alter crop cycles, with a heightened risk of droughts and extreme rainfall and shis in the distribution of pests and diseases.

vertical farming to increase local production and enhance food security. Christian Pérez, Senior Business Development Manager - Digital, Middle East and Turkey at Xylem, says the digital transformation of the agricultural sector in the Middle East “is a pressing need, to ensure sustainability, food security, and self-su”iciency.”

Xylem Vue is an integrated so•ware and analytics platform that was developed to support water utilities in progressing digital transformation. It was born out of the partnership between Xylem and Idrica. Here, adapted to agricultural applications, it relies on four critical and innovative technologies, highlighted as key to upgrading the industry. ƒ IoT (Internet of Things) sensors: These sensors monitor var iables including soil moisture and plant health in real time, enabling precise, highly e”icient management. Accord ing to Tarrazona, “Digital transformation enables a huge stride towards increasing sustainability and reducing water stress. It is essential to deploy sensors that provide us with real-time data on irrigation infrastructures and enable us to harness new technologies to help make decisions and optimise resources and processes.” ƒ Smart irrigation: The FAO (the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation) points to “enhanced irrigation management to support production intensification and di versification while reducing resource degradation” as a key

Smart technologies and software and analytics platforms like Xylem Vue enable smart agriculture, providing significant benefits in arid regions.

A gainst this background, one of the main levers of beneficial change is the digital transformation of irrigated agriculture. Begoña Tarrazona, Irrigation specialist at Idrica (which is headquartered in Valencia, Spain and works in partnership with global water technology provider, Xylem), says that agriculture “plays an essential role in global food security and can also help to renew and improve the air by harnessing practices that promote soil health, carbon sequestration, and pollution reduction. The solution is to balance food production with respect for the environment, which is crucial for the wellbeing of the planet and future generations.” Key technologies Despite the challenges, some countries in the Middle East

have been able to turn the constraints into opportunities by adopting digital technologies and transforming agriculture in arid environments. Examples include progress made by countries such as Israel, recognised for its highly developed agricultural industry which has enabled it to become a world leader in agricultural technologies. Saudi Arabia, over recent decades, has invested in sustainable agriculture projects tapping into technology to grow crops in the desert and reduce its reliance on imports, and the United Arab Emirates has embraced technologies such as hydroponics and

Other technologies such as drones provide additional information to support the analytics and optimisation of farming practices.

6 Electricity + Control JUNE 2025