Khalid al-Shamsi learnt to till the desert sand from his mother on the family's Abu Dhabi farm. Years later, he is leading an experiment that his government hopes will transform the emirate's health and attitudes to the environment.

Mr Shamsi, 36, the chairman of Abu Dhabi Organics Group, has for the past five years been honing his horticultural skills to produce an array of fruit and vegetables from the reddish sands near Abu Dhabi airport.