Meliha Bioharmony Day: Where Farm Waste Becomes Farm Soil
Some days you know you will remember. Meliha Bioharmony Day was one of them.
At Meliha Dairy Farm in Sharjah's Mleiha region, Ektifa has brought online a fully enclosed, in-vessel composting facility that turns organic farm waste into nutrient-rich compost and fertile soil in approximately 14 days. The system runs on HotRot technology from New Zealand, and the facility was developed in partnership with CHS. We are proud to have helped bring it to life.
24 Tonnes a Day, Back to the Land
The facility can process up to 24 tonnes of organic waste each day. The resulting compost is returned directly to Meliha's agricultural fields, completing a circle that begins and ends on the same farm. Because the process is fully enclosed, it eliminates the odours, pests, and liquid runoff that typically accompany open-air agricultural waste management.
For Meliha Dairy Farm, this is about more than waste handling. Dr Eng Khalifa Musabeh Al Teneiji, Chairman of the Department of Agriculture and Livestock and CEO of Ektifa, described the output as 100% organic compost reserved exclusively for Meliha's fields, with the core aim of reaching zero waste across the farm's operations.
“Dr Eng Khalifa Musabeh Al Teneiji confirmed that the output is 100% organic compost, used only on Meliha's own fields and not for commercial sale, and that the primary goal is zero waste within the farm's operations." (Source: Gulf Today.)
Dr Eng Khalifa Musabeh Al Teneiji, Chairman, Department of Agriculture and Livestock, Sharjah, and CEO of Ektifa
The facility is positioned as a model for circular agriculture in the UAE, improving soil fertility and reducing dependence on chemical fertilisers in line with the country's national sustainability and food security goals.
A Visit from New Zealand
The opening of the facility was honoured by the presence of Dr Richard Kay, New Zealand's Ambassador to the UAE, whose country's HotRot technology is at the heart of the composting system. Dr Kay opened the facility and spoke of the partnership between Emirati ambition and New Zealand engineering expertise.
"It's been a real honour and privilege to be here... bringing together UAE and Sharjah ambition with New Zealand technology, agriculture, and care for the environment."(Source : Sharjah24)
Dr Richard Kay, Ambassador of New Zealand to the UAE
The Ambassador and his delegation were received by Dr Eng Khalifa Musabeh Al Teneiji and several Ektifa project directors. The delegation toured the farm and received a briefing on its cattle-rearing practices, organic milk production, and daily operations, including the new composting facility.
About Meliha Dairy Farm
Recognised by Guinness World Records as the world's largest farm for A2A2 cows, Meliha Dairy Farm began operations in April 2024 and is the first farm in the Middle East to produce fully organic milk. Its story is one of extraordinary ambition: a facility that sets global benchmarks not just in scale, but in how it connects food production, animal welfare, and land stewardship.
The addition of closed-loop composting means the farm now connects food production, resource recovery, and soil health on a single site. Waste from the herd feeds the fields that feed the herd. That is circular agriculture in its most direct form.
CHS and the Role We Played
CHS has been a partner in the development of this facility from the outset. Our team supported the design, procurement, and commissioning of the composting system alongside Ektifa and the HotRot team from New Zealand. Meliha Bioharmony Day was the public culmination of months of detailed work, and seeing it come together on the farm, with coverage reaching the UAE's national news agencies, was a moment every member of our team will carry with them.
In the Press
The event was covered by UAE national and regional media:
WAM
Ektifa Launches Farm Waste-to-Compost Technology
wam.ae/en/article/c2epg0x-ektifa-launches-farm-waste-to-compost-technology
Khaleej Times
Sharjah Dairy Farm Turns Organic Waste into Compost Daily
khaleejtimes.com/uae/sharjah-dairy-farm-turns-organic-waste-into-compost-daily
Gulf Today
New Zealand's Ambassador Visits Meliha Dairy Farm to Explore Sustainability and Circular Economy Initiatives
gulftoday.ae/news/2026/09/24/new-zealands-ambassador-visits-meliha-dairy-farm
Sharjah24
NZ Ambassador Hails Meliha Farm's Green Technology
sharjah24.ae/en/Articles/2026/09/24/NZ-ambassador-hails-Meliha-farms-green-technology
Thank You
To Ektifa and the Department of Agriculture and Livestock, for the vision to make this happen and the trust to bring CHS into the partnership.
To the Embassy of New Zealand and Dr Richard Kay, for travelling to Mleiha to open this facility and for championing the HotRot technology on a global stage.
To the HotRot team in New Zealand, for engineering a system that performs exactly as promised under UAE conditions.
To the Meliha Dairy Farm team, for running a facility that continues to set records and raise the bar for what sustainable agriculture looks like in this region.
And to every member of the CHS team: it was a privilege to stand on that farm together.
Also read:
https://planetchs.com/blogs/on-site-organic-waste-composting-in-the-uae-a-sector-by-sector-guide
https://planetchs.com/blogs/from-waste-to-resource-in-vessel-composting-for-the-uae