On early June, a large field of rice paddy became golden in a vast desert outside Dubai. Agricultural scientists from China looked across the field of drought resistant rice, or “sea-rice”, which they had planted in sand and diluted sea-water and realized that a four decade struggle had come to an end. Indeed, they should be happy as the output result showed that the salt-resistant rice had reached a hectare yield of more than 7,500 kilogram, in desert.

6月上旬，迪拜郊外浩瀚沙漠中一片水稻田变成了金黄色。来自中国的科学家们注视着他们在沙漠里用淡化海水种植的抗旱水稻，或者叫“海水稻”， 感到近四十年的科研攻关终于接近胜利了。他们的确应该感到开心，因为这些耐盐碱水稻在沙漠中的产量超过了7.5吨每平方公顷。

Rice is commonly grown in fresh water and soil, rather than sand and sea water. However, a research team led by the famous “Father of Hybrid Rice” Professor Longping Yuan has cultivate a new kind of salt-resistant rice that can grow in tidal flats, Saline-alkali land and desert with diluted sea water. In January 2018, invited and entrusted by the Dubai Sheikh’s private investment office, Chinese scientists planted the salt-resistant rice in desert outside Dubai, where temperature can be up to 50℃ and dust storms are frequent.

水稻生长通常要靠土壤和淡水而非沙漠和海水。 但是，由著名的“杂交水稻之父”袁隆平教授带领的科研团队培育除了一种能在沿海滩涂、盐碱地和沙漠生长，用稀释海水灌溉的新型耐盐碱水稻。2018年1月，受迪拜酋长私人投资办公室邀请和委托，中国的科学家们在日间气温有时高达50摄氏度，还经常发生沙尘暴的迪拜郊外的沙漠里种植了这种耐盐碱水稻。

The golden rice paddy fields indicate a bright future of food supply in the Middle East, where most land is desert and most food imported. Take the United Arab Emirates for example sand cover 47% territory of the country and 89% food consumed in the country is imported from countries outside Middle East. Recently, the research team and the UAE government have agreed to extend the trial fields into 100 hectare (1,000,000 m2) and when the trial is completed and successful, to grow the sea-rice in more than 10% land of the country. This will lead to a major breakthrough in food supplies in the Middle East.

这片金黄的稻田预示着中东地区粮食供应的光明前景。中东的大部分土地都是沙漠，大部分食品是进口的。以阿拉伯联合酋长国为例，沙土覆盖该国47%的领土，该国消耗的89%食品是从中东以外的国家进口的。目前，研究小组和阿联酋政府已同意将试验田扩大到100公顷(100万平方米)，并在试验完成和成功后，将海水稻种植在全国10%以上的土地上。这将给中东地区的粮食供应带来重大突破。

This rice and anther inventions may change the landscape of the Middle East. A research team led by Zhijian Yi, vice president of Chongqing Jiaotong University, extracted a fiber adhesive from plants that with water can turn loose sand into soil which has “self-healing and self-regulating nature” and can cultivate plants, with fresh water.

这种海水稻和其他的发明可能会改变中东的自然景观。由重庆交通大学副校长易志坚领导的研究小组从植物中提取出一种纤维黏合剂，用这种纤维粘合剂和水可以将疏松的沙子转化为具有“自我修复和自我调节”能力的能够用淡水种植植物的土壤。

As for investors, the rice paddy fields can be profitable new investment fields in the Middle East. Fresh water is more expensive than oil in the Middle East, where desalination has long been a hot investment area. It is not sustainable and economical to grow economic crops using fresh water, therefore the planting industry in this region failed to develop. Food, vegetables and fruits have endogenous policies and people's livelihood needs. In policy terms, countries in the Middle East need to reduce their dependence on imported food. On a civilian level, the rich Arabians need more fresh foods. What are missing are suitable natural conditions or suitable planting techniques.

对于投资者来说，这些稻田意味着中东地区新的投资领域。在中东，水比石油贵，海水淡化一直是中东热门的投资领域。因此，用淡水种植经济作物是不可持续和不划算的，这个地区的种植业也就没办法发展起来。粮食、蔬菜瓜果中具有内生的政策和民生需求。从政策上来说，中东国家需要降低对进口粮食的依赖程度；从民生上来说，富有的阿拉伯人需要更丰富的新鲜食品供应。所缺的是合适的自然条件或适应自然条件的种植技术。

With the spread of both technologies motioned above, especially the sea-rice, planting industry in Middle East is expected to grow rapidly. Investors who enter this field earlier are promising to get a high return on investment. Contact us if you are interested in this field and other business opportunities in the Middle East.

随着上述两种技术，特别是海水稻的推广，中东的种植业有望得到迅速发展。抢先布局这一行业的投资者很可能获得超出预期的收益。如果您对中东的这一领域和其他商业机会感兴趣，请与我们联系。