By Kim Young Deok and Lee Jihae

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) government has praised the successful harvest of Korean rice in a desert region of the Mideast country.

With Korean agricultural technology leading to surprising results in rice farming in the desert, which was thought to be impossible, expectations are rising for Korean agriculture following global acclaim for Korean quarantine strategies.

The UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment announced on June 2 that the pilot cultivation of Korean rice, a joint venture for agricultural technology cooperation, in May yielded "success" in the Sharjah region.

Emirates News Agency (WAM), the UAE's state-run media outlet, said UAE Minister of Climate Change and Environment Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi said in a written briefing, "The innovative venture is the first endeavor of its kind in the Middle East."

"If successful on a large scale, this groundbreaking project has the potential to shape the future of agriculture, as it can be replicated in other arid regions," he added.

The joint venture was discussed in March 2018 through a bilateral summit as part of an agricultural cooperation project.

Korea's Rural Development Administration (RDA) developed Asemi, a domestic type of rice developed specifically for arid regions. The RDA sowed the rice in November last year in the desert area of Sharjah and harvested it in May this year. The rice production rate was 763 kg per 10 acres, or about 40% more than the domestic output rate.

Minister Al Zeyoudi stressed the importance of the success of Korean rice harvesting amid the coronavirus pandemic.

In a June 2 interview with Bloomberg, he said, "This pandemic has sent a strong message that diversification always has to be a key element of our future plans."

He added that the pandemic is "pushing us to come up with more innovative ways to grow faster than the rest of the world."

kyd1991@korea.kr