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Enhanced collaboration between ICARDA and UAE: Two agreements and an award

Published Date
April 07, 2016
Published by
ICARDA Communication Team
H. E. Dr. Thani Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, UAE’s Minister of Climate Change and Environment (right) with Dr. Mahmoud Solh (center) and Dr. Kamel Shideed (left)
H. E. Dr. Thani Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, UAE’s Minister of Climate Change and Environment (right) with Dr. Mahmoud Solh (center) and Dr. Kamel Shideed (left)

Research partnerships between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and ICARDA’s Arabian Peninsula Regional Program (APRP) have been helping increase output and productivity in severely water-deficient environments. To strengthen these ties, UAE’s newly appointed Minister of Climate Change and Environment, H. E. Dr. Thani Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, welcomed Dr. Mahmoud Solh, ICARDA’s Director General, Dr. Kamel Shideed, Assistant Director General, International Cooperation and Communication, and Dr. Azaiez Ouled Belgacem, APRP Regional Coordinator on 13th March, 2016.

Discussions were held on the role of ICARDA in introducing efficient technology packages for more sustainable agricultural production in the region and the need of developing new horizons mainly for date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) resistance to red date palm weevil (Rhynchophorus ferrugineus) in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region and reducing the economic and environmental costs of using desalinated water in agriculture.

This collaboration was further strengthened by two agreements signed by ICARDA with Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority (ADFCA) and the American University of Ras Al Khaimeh (AURAK). ICARDA was also felicitated with the Khalifa International Award for Date Palm and Agricultural Innovation by H.H. Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development, UAE.

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H. E. Rashid Khalfan Al Shariqi (right) and Dr. Mahmoud Solh (left) signing a Memorandum of Understanding between ADFCA and ICAR
Building on the existing partnership of ICARDA and ADFCA, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between H.E. Rashid Khalfan Al Shariqi, Director General of ADFCA, and Dr. Solh on 15thMarch 2016. “It is important to develop smart agriculture extension systems using GIS to overcome the problem of low access to extension services by farmers,” said H.E. Al Shariqi. This approach can also be used by ICARDA in other regions.

Highlighting the significance of this agreement, Dr. Solh highlighted a recently established MoU with the President of AURAK, Prof. Hassan Hamdan Al Alkim, on developing a prototype for a greenhouse cooling system that uses solar energy and is more efficient than current approaches with significant environmental benefits. Drs. Solh, Shideed and Belgacem visited the Ras Al Khaimeh Research and Innovation Center (RAKRIC), a research institute connected to AURAK.

To acknowledge ICARDA’s agricultural innovations in date palm cultivation, UAE’s Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development, H.H. Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, felicitated Dr. Solh with the Khalifa International Award for Date Palm and Agricultural Innovation on 15th March, 2016, at a high-level ceremony in the presence of a large number of participants including several Ministers of Agriculture from Arab countries, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development and Director Generals of the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization, Arab Organization for Agricultural Development and International Center for Biosaline Agriculture.