ICARDA News

INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH IN THE DRY AREAS
P.O. Box 5466, Aleppo, Syria
Phone: (963-21) 2213433, 2213477, 2225112, 2225012
Fax: (963-21) 2213490, 2225105; E-mail: ICARDA@CGIAR.ORG
Website: www.icarda.cgiar.org
10 June 2004
For more information contact:
Surendra Varma (s.varma@CGIAR.ORG)
Regional Workshop on Date Palm Development in the Arabian Peninsula
Workshop opening ceremony. From left (front row): H.E. Mohammed Salim Al Dhaheri, Director of the President's Private Department, Al Ain; H.E. Sheikh Nahayan bin Mabarak Al Nahayan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research and Chancellor of UAEU; Prof. Dr Adel El-Beltagy, ICARDA Director General; H.E. Saeed Bin-Mohamed El-Raqabany, Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, UAE; Dr Aref Abdul-Baki, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, USDA, USA.
A three-day workshop on the 'Development of Sustainable Systems of Date Palm in the Arabian Peninsula' was held in Abu Dhabi on 29-31 May 2004. The workshop was organized by ICARDA and the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries in the United Arab Emirates in collaboration with United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) and the General Secretariat of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). More than 70 research scientists and date palm experts from ICARDA, UAEU, GCC countries (Bahrain, Emirates, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia), Egypt, Iran, Morocco, Sudan, Tunis, USA and Yemen attended the workshop. Representatives of FAO and Arab Authority for Agricultural Investment and Development (AAAID) were also present.

The workshop was held under the patronage of, and inaugurated by H.E. Sheikh Nahayan bin Mabarak Al Nahayan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research and Chancellor of UAEU. In his opening address, Sheikh Nahayan welcomed the participants and stressed the importance of date palm in the Arabian Peninsula and the support given by the United Arab Emirates over the years for date palm research undertaken by different organizations. H.E. Saeed Bin-Mohamed Al-Raqabany, Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, spoke on the importance of the workshop and praised the collaboration between ICARDA, the Ministry of Agriculture, the UAEU, and the GCC in organizing the meeting.

In his address, Prof. Dr Adel El-Beltagy, ICARDA DG, welcomed the workshop participants and highlighted the challenges such as global warming, land degradation, water scarcity, loss of biodiversity and population pressure facing the world today. Prof. El-Beltagy defined ICARDA's role in the dry areas, especially in the CWANA region and listed new research tools such as GIS/Remote Sensing, climate change monitoring systems, Biotechnology/Genomics; Bioinformatics; Modeling; Expert Systems/Information Technology and Participatory approach that ICARDA uses. He stressed the importance of investing in research since it is the only means to effectively face global challenges. Prof. El-Beltagy concluded by thanking UAE for hosting the workshop on date palm, an important crop that deserves increased attention.

The scientific committee, consisting of Dr William Erskine, ADG (Research), ICARDA; Prof. Dr Richard Jones, Senior Research and Lecture Scholar, School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Yale University, Dr Adel Abul El-Nagga, Senior Advisor, Research for Development, ICARDA, and Dr Ahmed T. Moustafa, APRP Regional Coordinator, ICARDA, defined the goals and objectives of the workshop.

Display of ICARDA publications at the workshop. From left, Dr William Erskine, ICARDA ADG (Research); Prof. Dr Adel El-Beltagy, DG ICARDA; H. E. Sheikh Nahayan bin Mabarak Al Nahayan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research and Chancellor of UAEU; H. E. Saeed Bin-Mohamed Al-Raqabany, Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries in United Arab Emirates.
Six country reports and 13 scientific papers were presented during the first and second day of the workshop. The country reports highlighted the current problems and constraints facing date palm in the GCC. Scientific reports presented by invited experts covered five main areas including: propagation and crop management; biotechnology and germplasm conservation; crop protection and IPM; post-harvest, marketing and processing of different date palm by-products; and information technology and expert systems.

The participants then identified areas of research and activities to be included in a regional project on date palm development.

At the end of the workshop, the scientists drafted a proposal on Development of Sustainable Date Palm Production Systems in the Arabian Peninsula. A special visit to a tissue culture laboratory producing date palm transplants, a farm, and a date factory was organized for the workshop participants.

About ICARDA: Established in 1977, ICARDA (www.icarda.cgiar.org) serves the entire developing world for the improvement of barley, lentil, and faba bean; and dry-area developing countries for the on-farm management of water, improvement of nutrition and productivity of small ruminants (sheep and goats), and rehabilitation and management of rangelands. In the Central and West Asia and North Africa (CWANA) region, ICARDA is responsible for the improvement of durum and bread wheats, chickpea, pasture and forage legumes and farming systems; and for the protection and enhancement of the natural resource base of water, land, and biodiversity.

The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) (www.cgiar.org) is a strategic alliance of 62 members and 16 Future Harvest Centers that mobilizes cutting-edge science to promote sustainable development by reducing hunger and poverty, improving human nutrition and health, and protecting the environment.
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