Farm show focuses on reforms in Al Gharbia
Exhibition aims at balancing causes of productivity and environmental conservation

Staff Report
Published: 00:00 April 11, 2010

Visitors at the Liwa Agricultural Exhibition. Many leading agricultural experts addressed seminars at the three-day event, offering the region's farmers a better understanding of the global status of agriculture.



Liwa, Al Gharbia: The three-day Liwa Agricultural Exhibition that concluded yesterday saw a variety of initiatives and agreements focusing on agricultural reforms in Al Gharbia (formerly the Western Region).

The agreements aimed at balancing agricultural productivity and environmental conservation.

Rashed Al Shariqi, Director General of Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority (ADFCA), said the successful conclusion of the exhibition testified to the agricultural vision of the government of Abu Dhabi, which wanted to turn this crucial sector of national development into a social and economic powerhouse.

"We are very glad that the farmers and farm owners of the western region welcomed our initiatives and in particular the exhibition with such enthusiasm. We are grateful to Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority, and to Shaikh Hamdan Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Ruler's Representative in the Western Region, for all their support and cooperation," he concluded.

Apart from approximately 6,000 visitors drawn from the farming community in the region, who went around and inspected the different tools and agricultural produce at the exhibition, the event also was venue for a number of seminars and presentations dealing with various aspects of agriculture.

Many leading agricultural experts addressed these seminars, giving the region's farmers a better understanding of globally recognised state of agriculture.

The penultimate day of the event saw the signing of two important agreements for constructing several thousand square metres of green house — having the potential to trigger a qualitative change in the agrarian practices in the region. As part of the first deal, "So Fresh", a green house manufacturer will build 110 green houses for a local company ‘Dharwat Liwa' at a cost of Dh3.47 million.

The second deal assigned ‘So Fresh' to build eight green houses for Huraif Al Murar, a local farmer, at a cost of Dh2.9 million.

The parties to the agreement said the deal would set an example for successful water-efficient hydroponic method in agriculture. "The produce from the farms will be marketed by the recently opened Farmers' Service Centre, an initiative of Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority," they stressed.

Al Shariqi said that a number of farm owners had expressed their interest in becoming members of the Farmers' Service Centre, which Shaikh Hamdan inaugurated on the first day of the exhibition.

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