"Abu Dhabi Heritage" Launch a project "Documenting new palm varieties"

Al Dhafra, July 19 / WAM / The Abu Dhabi Heritage Authority announced the launch of the “Documentation of New Varieties of Palm” project, under the slogan “Scientific Documentation… Preserving Rights… Supporting Sustainability”, as part of the activities of the “Liwa Dates Festival” in its 22nd session.

His Excellency Faris Khalaf Al Mazrouei, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Heritage Authority, said that the launch of this project embodies the wise vision and unlimited support of the wise leadership for the agricultural sector, especially the blessed palm tree, which constitutes a basic pillar of the national and heritage identity of the United Arab Emirates.

He added that documenting new varieties of palm trees represents a qualitative step towards unifying the conditions and standards that enhance the development of the heritage agricultural sector with a modern scientific vision, which consolidates Abu Dhabi’s position as a leading global center in the field of heritage sustainability and innovative agriculture.

For his part, His Excellency Abdullah Mubarak Al Muhairi, Acting Director General of the Authority, confirmed that the project comes to celebrate farmers’ innovations and root new varieties and name them according to specific standards and requirements, ensuring the preservation of this rich agricultural heritage and its transmission between generations as a distinct Emirati product.

His Excellency indicated that the Authority aims, through this project, to build a reliable national database for new palm varieties in the country, and to support scientific research and agricultural innovation to enhance sustainable food security and stimulate investment in this vital sector.

In turn, His Excellency Obaid Khalfan Al Mazrouei, Executive Director of the Festivals and Events Sector at the Authority, explained the exact conditions and standards that have been approved for registering and documenting the new items, pointing out that the process begins with fully electronic registration through the “Falak Al Namous” application to facilitate procedures, followed by the process of attaching photos of the item and the required documents, then inspecting a sample of it and evaluating it technically, followed by a field visit by the documentation team to verify that all conditions are met, leading to the item being approved by the relevant team and its documents saved. And include it in the database.

He added that the scientific conditions include the need for the variety to be new and not previously documented, and to have distinctive specifications in terms of quality, taste and taste in dates and dates, in addition to being distinguished by an appropriate weight and size and a consistent external appearance, and to be promising and economically viable, stable in its characteristics, and showing constant features across different seasons and environmental conditions.

For his part, His Excellency Mubarak Al-Qusaili, Director of the Dates Auction at the Festival, said that the documentation committee includes an elite group of palm experts, variety identifiers, tissue breeding and genetic fingerprinting experts, to ensure careful technical examination and verification of the genetic integrity and stability of the variety’s characteristics, which ultimately ensures scientific documentation, official approval of the name, preservation of farmers’ intellectual property rights, support of scientific research programs and directing agricultural investments based on reliable data.

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