AbuDhabi(Press Release)
Announcing the Khalifa International Award for Date Palm and Agricultural Innovation winners in its Thirteenth session, 2021
H.E. Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan: Approves the Award winners names
H.E Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan, Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Khalifa International Award for Date Palm and Agricultural Innovation expressed his appreciation for the care the Award received under the wise leadership of H.H. Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE (May God protect him), and the support of H.H. Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and H.H. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Presidential Affairs, which pushed the Award towards achieving its current leading position on the local, Arab and international levels, and contribution to strengthening the UAE’s role in serving the date palm tree and agricultural innovation sectors around the world.This came during the virtual press conference held by Dr. Abdulouahhab Zaid, Secretary General of the Khalifa International Award for Date Palm and Agricultural Innovation, on Sunday the 14th of February, 2021, through the virtual platform (zoom), and in the presence of Dr. Helal Humaid Saed Al Kaabi, Member of the Award’s Board of Trustees, and a number of members of the Award’s Scientific |Committee Scientific award. During the conference the Award winners in its thirteenth session were announced. We are proud of the high level the Award has reached within fourteen years thanks to the directives of His Excellency Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan, Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence, Chairman of the Award’s Board of Trustees, added Dr. Zaid
Award Winners
Dr Sarah Sallon, Research from the Development Division at Hadassah Medical Organization in Israel won the Distinguished Innovative Studies and Modern Technology category. For the pioneering development and production projects, the prize will be distributed equally between: Boudjebel S.A. VACPA from Tunisa, for the Continuous Improvement of Date Palm Sector in Tunisia and Development of sustainable date palm production systems in the GCC project and Public-private-producer partnerships for a vibrant date palm industry and market and International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA).
The pioneering and advanced innovations to serve the agricultural sector category ,equally between: Teeba Engineering Industries Company UAE for palm and date devices and machinery – design and manufacture from “Teeba Engineering Industries Company and Dr. Aqeel Hadi Abdulwahid from Agriculture College and Basra University in Iraq for designing and building a smart pollination device for date palm and monitor using IOT.
The distinguished individuals in the field of date palm and agricultural innovation category will be divided between Prof. Abdellah Mohammed Haj Mohammed from Spain and Dr. Walid Abdul Ghani Kaakeh from Syria.
Dr. Helal Humaid Saed Al Kaabi, the member of the Award’s Board of Trustees, confirmed that the Award was distinguished by a set of key factors, the most prominent of which was the number of applicants reaching 153 representing 28 countries. The research and studies category gained the highest participation rate of 56 participants, followed by the pioneering innovations category with 42 participants, the distinguished individual category of 30 participants, and the category of development projects with 20 participants.