ABU DHABI, 15th March, 2023 (WAM) — Mariam bint Mohammed Almheiri, Minister of Climate Change and the Environment, honoured on Tuesday the winners of its first session of the Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Agricultural Excellence Award 2023.
The ceremony, held at the Sheikh Zayed Festival in Al Wathba, was attended by Sheikh Ahmed bin Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Nahyan, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Agricultural Club, Chairman of the Emirates Kiteboarding Committee and the Emirates Sup and Surf Committee, Dr. Mughir Khamis Al Khaili, Chairman of the Department of Community Development – Abu Dhabi, Managing Director of the Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority (ADAFSA), and Humaid Saeed Al Neyadi, Director of the Private Office of H.H. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Vice Chairman of the Supreme Organising Committee of the Sheikh Zayed Festival, in addition to a number of officials and dignitaries.
The organising committee yesterday announced 50 winners of the award out of a total of 348 participants from different emirates of the country who competed in the three main categories of the award, including 227 participants who competed in the plant category, compared to 121 participants who competed in the animal category. The Higher Organising Committee of the Award will promote the agricultural practices of the winners with the aim of transferring knowledge and exchanging expertise on best agricultural practices that enhance agricultural sustainability and food security in the UAE.
Saeed Al Bahri Al Ameri, Director-General of ADAFSA, said, “I am delighted to attend the closing ceremony of the first session of the Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Agricultural Excellence Award and to honour the winners of its valuable prizes, including farmers, breeders, commercial farms and outstanding innovators.”
He expressed his pride in the award, which has the support and patronage of H.H. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of the Presidential Court and Chairman of the Board of Directors of ADAFSA, and his great confidence that it will be a source of goodness and giving to all those interested in the agricultural sector and food production in various emirates and the region.
"The Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Agricultural Excellence Award is a sincere expression of our wise leadership's interest in the agricultural renaissance in the UAE, and confirms its keenness to encourage creativity and innovation, and to rely on the development of knowledge and excellence as a basis for progress and enhance the status of agriculture to diversify sources of national income, in addition to positive changes that bring us all good and progress to be a pioneer and leader in the field of agricultural innovation in the world," he added.
Dr. Maryam Hareb Al Suwaidi, Chairman of the Supreme Committee of the Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Agricultural Excellence Award and Deputy Director-General of Operational Affairs at ADAFSA , stressed that the Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Agricultural Excellence Award reflects the UAE's wise vision in developing and sustaining the agricultural sector and enhancing food security.
She also confirmed the keenness of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan to launch creative and stimulating initiatives to develop a sustainable agricultural sector.
“We are proud of the wide and distinguished participation in the first edition of the Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Agricultural Excellence Award, as we were delighted to see the participation of 832 participants, including farmers, breeders, commercial farms, palm growers, beekeepers and aquaculture farmers, in addition to productive families, who competed in the categories of the award and its related competitions. 348 participants from different emirates of the UAE competed in the three categories of the award, including 227 participants who competed in the plant categories to select the best open field farm, the best greenhouse farm, the best fruit farm and the best organic farm,” she said.
“This is in addition to the best commercial plant farm and the best farm in agricultural innovation. In the livestock sector, 121 participants competed in the categories of best livestock farm and small producer in broiler production, best aquaculture farm, best beekeeper and best honey producer, as well as best commercial farm in livestock production and best farm in livestock production innovation. Today we will honour and congratulate the 50 outstanding winners who have made great efforts to develop their crop and livestock farms," she further added.
She added that the 484 participants in the accompanying competitions were clear evidence of the commitment and interest of farmers and breeders in applying best agricultural practices, improving product quality and developing this vital sector. The positive competition among participants encourages continuous improvement, innovation and the spirit of perseverance and hard work among all actors and stakeholders in this important sector. The competition for prizes in various categories encourages farmers to hone their creative and developmental skills and further improve the quality of agricultural production, increase productivity and enhance our food security of the UAE.
Khalifa Suhail Al Mazrouei won first place in the Best Open Farm category for his success in implementing innovative solutions that help rationalise the use of natural resources and for growing rare and unique varieties of date palms using good agricultural practices. Meanwhile, Abdullah Mohammed Khwaidem won second place for his success in using clean energy to run the farm and his commitment to using good agricultural practices and biological pest control.
In the Best Greenhouse Farm category, Hassan Juma Al Zaabi won the first prize for adopting diverse productive practices with economic returns and for achieving appropriate productivity of high quality for various crops.
As for the Best Fruit Farm category, Sultan Saeed Al-Aryani won first place for his success in implementing practices that help to safely recycle waste, as well as productive activities with economic returns.
In the Best Organic Farm category, Rashid Sulayyem Al-Ketbi won first place for his success in adopting practices that help recycle agricultural waste and use it as organic fertiliser.
Rashid Farhan Al-Kuwaiti won first place in the productive livestock farm category. His main strengths were the presence of a site for the collection of animal manure and its recycling for agricultural use after processing, and the presence of a special entrance for visitors to the sales service, separate from the farm's activities, which helps to strengthen the biosecurity system.
Ghanim Sultan Al Suwaidi won first place in the Small Producer category, for his implementation of modern and sophisticated feeding systems for buffaloes through the presence of a feed factory and local manufacturing and the use of dates and syrups in feeding processes.
As for the Best Beekeeper category, Fadel Nasser Al-Saadi won first place for his ability to produce large quantities of honey in several seasons, such as Sidr, Ghaf and Samar, where the hive production rate reaches 20 kg per year, in addition to the excellent equipment inside the apiary.
Hamed Ahmed Al-Hamid won first place in the Agricultural Plant Innovation category.
In the category of innovation in animal production, Salem Hariz Al-Rashedi won first place for creating investment opportunities in the livestock sector by coordinating with ADAFSA to purchase camel meat from Al Khaznah slaughterhouse.
The same breeder also managed to create new food products from camel meat that were unique locally, including "mortadella" camel meat, and succeeded in marketing them as the revenue from camel meat products amounted to AED2,055,000.
Pure Harvest Farm was awarded first place in the category of commercial plant production farms, for its excellence in using a range of state-of-the-art systems to monitor the status of the crops grown, such as the modern irrigation system, cooling system, humidity and temperature monitoring system, in addition to fertilisation systems and a range of operational plans for all agricultural activities.
As for the Commercial Livestock Farm category, Al Ajban Poultry Farms won first place for adopting outstanding practices that contribute to sustainability and implementing practices and systems that limit resource consumption.
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