The UAE is prioritising food security in its development goals, according to Dr. Tarifa A. Alzaabi, Acting Director General of the International Centre for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA), and seeks to use the latest technologies to improve production and handle related concerns.
She then expressed her gratitude for President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan's visit to the ICBA, praising the country's leadership's support for the centre for more than two decades.
According to Alzaabi, the ICBA, which was established in 1999, has helped 30,000 farmers embrace the best biosaline agriculture practises created by the center's experts. The UAE is working hard to secure food and nutritional security, as well as to attain water security, environmental sustainability, and employment creation.
The institution features a team of scientists and specialists that are working on innovative solutions and sharing their expertise on salt and water scarcity in remote areas. It also has diverse research teams and world-class research facilities, as well as many genetic samples of drought, heat, and salt-tolerant plant species from throughout the world.
Alzaabi emphasised that the center's vision is to promote sustainable living and food security in marginalised areas, as well as to contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.
According to Alzaabi, the ICBA has a unique gene library with over 16,000 plant strains from 300 different plant species from more than 150 nations and regions throughout the world, including 270 samples from 70 different wild and cultivated plant species from the UAE. The gene bank houses around 5,000 barley plant strains, one of the largest collections in the Middle East, and over 1,200 quinoa strains, the world's largest collection outside of South America.
She explained that the centre conducts field trips to various parts of the country in order to collect local species and store them in its genetic bank for future use.
Congratulation!