Agricultural exports from the United States to the UAE reached record levels last year.
The US exported US$1.01 billion (Dh3.71bn) of agricultural, fish and forestry products to the Emirates in 2011, up more than $120 million from 2010.
There was an increase in the period across all agricultural product categories bar "bulk", which includes commodities such as wheat, rice and tobacco.
"The total last year [for bulk products] was $42m. In 2010 it was $52m. It went down a little bit," said Jude Akhidenor, the regional agricultural attaché at the US Consulate in Dubai.
"Russia and Ukraine released a lot of products into the market and so that sort of cut into our exports. But this year there are drought problems [in those countries], so we expect our wheat again to rise."
The largest increase was also in the biggest category - consumer-ready goods, including snacks, meat, fruit and vegetables. It rose from just over $530m in 2010 to almost $635m last year.
"In the area of consumer-ready products there has been a steady increase for the past five years and we attribute this to a number of factors," said Mr Akhidenor. "One is trade shows."
In total, 17 exhibitors from the US will take part in the Sial Middle East food exhibition, which is being held at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre from Monday to November 28. This year's show has registered a 60 per cent growth in interest from overseas.
"We effectively utilise the shows to launch new products as well as to expand our existing products because we have buyers from around the world that come to the show," said Mr Akhidenor.
He added that US agricultural exports to the UAE were expected to keep rising and could reach $1.2bn this year.
