Take part in a transformative journey: MENAT Regenerative Agriculture Programme - Cohort 2024/25

2024/25 Top 10 Solutions

Please see below the Top 10 Finalists of Cohort 2024/25

FertiSolo – Biofertilizers & vermicompost for healthier, fertile soils and higher yields.

Combines vermicomposting, biofertilisers, and waste recycling to restore soil health in arid lands. Leveraging microbial consortia for tailored, sustainable MENAT farming solutions, enhancing yields, regenerating land, reducing chemicals, recycling waste, and combating desertification with cost-effective, scalable solutions.

Researcher(s)

Ahmed Elhady, Yousef Gomaa

OZ-TECH – Robotics transforming agriculture for data driven resource efficiency, sustainability and enhanced crop yield.

OZ-TECH drives agricultural transformation through automation, efficiency, and sustainability. OSIRIS 1 reduces planting time and increases yields by 10-15%. By integrating robotics and IoT into farming, encouraging a data driven methods approach for soil health, reducing resource inputs & driving long term environmental sustainability

Researcher(s)

Mohamed Hamad, Amr Gamal

Actinobacteria– Isolation and characterisation of water stress tolerant actinobacteria for arid soils

Actinobacteria- Innovative biofertiliser solutions advance regenerative agriculture and unlock new pathways for sustainable food production through actinobacteria biofertilisers and organic protocols, reducing chemical inputs while enhancing soil fertility, microbiological activity, and crop resilience. By improving soil structure, water balance, and shielding plants from abiotic stress, it ensures sustainable, scalable and cost effective climate-adaptive food production.

Researcher(s)

Marhane Omaina

DiseaseExpert- Real-time disease detection & response for crops.

This real-time monitoring solution connects farmers with experts for rapid disease and pest detection, minimizing damage and limiting spread. It also provides government agencies with a database on farmers, crops, and infestations to enhance agricultural management while reducing the need for synthetic inputs and increasing crop yield protection.

Researcher(s)

Professor Francis Enejo Idachaba

Smart Relay-Intercropping –Smart Relay-intercropping for Enhancing Resilience, Productivity and Diversity in drylands

Relay technique intercropping of legumes with cereal crops boosts soil health, yield, farmer profitability and climate resilience while outperforming bare fallow. This process enhances biodiversity, nitrogen levels, and food security, increasing wheat yields by 10-12% making it a sustainable and scalable solution for dryland farming.

Researcher(s)

Mina Devkota

AquaShade Oasis – Agrivoltaics & water harvesting for arid farming.

AquaShade Oasis integrates solar energy with water harvesting to enhance arid farming. Photovoltaic panels reduce crop heat stress and evaporation, capture condensation within a closed loop irrigation system, and generate clean power. Optimized for high-value crops like moringa and safflower, enhances yield stability and provides farmers an additional revenue stream through surplus solar power, delivering scalable economic and environmental benefits.

Researcher(s)

Mohd Mustafa, Tala Ghaleb Eteiwi Alhabashneh

No-Till Seeder – Adapting conventional seeders to support no till mechanisation for soil health.

Converting conventional seed drills into direct no-till seeding drills offers a cost-effective, sustainable solution. This approach maximizes existing equipment, making direct seeding more accessible to farmers, while supporting regenerative agriculture no-till techniques that work to support soil health.

Researcher(s)

Zizi Najoua, Lamkadem Ahmed, Zaid Essaid

Farm to 2Fs (Fuel and Fertiliser) – Anaerobic Digestion converting animal waste into bioenergy & fertilizer.

Farm to 2Fs used auto-generative high-pressure digestion (AHPD) to transform animal waste into biogas and biofertiliser. Run by a centralized AD unit of agricultural cooperatives, optimizes biogas yield and fertiliser quality while reducing reliance on inorganic inputs, streamlined by a mobile app collection system of waste sourcing. This solution enhances soil health, rural incomes, and energy production while reducing GHG emissions.

Researcher(s)

Dr. Budour A. Alghamdi, Eng. Wafa A. Alrasheed, Dr. Adil E. Abdelnour

VerdiSol – Transforming food & agri waste into nanocellulose beneficial plant-based nanofibers

VerdiSol, a proprietary patented technology, transforms organic waste into high-performance biomaterial nanocellulose for sustainable agriculture and desert greening. Using plant-based nanofibers, this circular approach enhances soil fertility, water retention, and plant growth in extreme environments. This technology provides scalable, sustainable solution for soil revitalisation in arid farming, hydroponics, and modern farming.

Researcher(s)

Blaise Tardy, Mohammed Salim, Ghanim Mabrook, Abdulla Bin Tamim, M-Hidar Ali Al Dali

RedDot – RNA-based selective control for red palm weevil.

RedDot utilises sugar-based nanoparticles to stabilise tailored RNA sequences to target vital genes in pests notably red palm weevil, enabling a selective, non-toxic, and effective biopesticide solution.

Researcher(s)

Teodoro Garcia-Millan, Fran Robson, Veronica Greco