Mansour bin Zayed launches Sheikh Zayed Award for Leadership in Agricultural Innovation

Abu Dhabi: H.H. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister of the UAE, Minister of Presidential Affairs, and Chairman of Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority (ADFCA), yesterday launched the Sheikh Zayed Award for Leadership in Agricultural Innovation as part of the UAE's consistent efforts to improve coordination of international policies and to recognise remarkable role of scientists and experts in drawing food security policies. Sheikh Mansour announced the launch of the prestigious award at his welcome address to the Global Forum for Innovations in Agriculture (GFIA), read on his behalf by Rashid bin Fahd, UAE Minister of Environment and Water. The three-day event is held at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre. ''The Award aims to encourage scientists and researchers to raise the quality and efficiency of researches in agricultural applications,'' Sheikh Mansour said, adding that the UAE stands today among leading countries in the region which encourage and support agricultural innovations and scientific research, citing the UAE's remarkable experiments in this field. ''Despite the harsh climate and water scarcity, the UAE, armed with strong political will, has adopted modern agricultural technologies, developed a sustainable agricultural sector that conserves the environment and secures part of food needs of the country,'' he stressed. Sheikh Mansour expressed the hope that the GFIA would generate a new world agricultural model that paves the way for a sustainable agricultural revolution contributing to increasing productivity and preserving natural resources. The Global Forum for Innovations in Agriculture (GFIA), the world's largest showcase of game-changing innovations in sustainable agriculture, will be held in Abu Dhabi from February 3 to 5, 2014, under the Patronage of H.H. Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nayhan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs of the UAE. With the key theme of ‘driving innovation for an agricultural revolution,’ the event seeks to highlight the sustainable agriculture initiatives being planned and deployed across the world to increase food security and safeguard future sources of home-grown food, particularly in a regions characterised by water shortages and infertile land. Hosted by the city of Abu Dhabi, the Global Forum for Innovations in Agriculture will demonstrate how new ideas can be used to increase substantially food production in both arid and semi-arid climates. At GFIA, delegates will hears over 200 presentations on ground-breaking projects and game-changing innovations and keynote addresses featuring renowned thought leaders in the field of sustainable agriculture. – Emirates News Agency, WAM