Abu Dhabi: Date lovers have a reason to smile as they are able to enjoy dates even during the off-season thanks to their extended shelf life.
Recent research findings inspired by a UAE initiative have helped extend the shelf life of many varieties of dates, a senior official told Gulf News on Tuesday.
“The shelf life of some of the date varieties has been extended considerably. For example, the six-month shelf life of some dates has been extended to one year and one-year shelf life to two years,” said Dr Samir Al Shakir, a member of the scientific committee at the General Secretariat of Khalifa International Date Palm Award (Kidpa)
This has been possible with improvisation in technologies related to vacuum packaging, use of certain gases and new packaging methods, he said. The researchers awarded by Kidpa have contributed immensely in this area.
The award has even created a competition among researchers and scientists, triggering an increase in the number of nominations in the category of ‘outstanding research and studies in the field of date palm cultivation and date production’, Al Shakir said on the sidelines of a press conference.
The research category of the annual award received the most number of nominations — 412 out of a total 809 [from 39 countries — 20 Arab nations and 19 non-Arab nations] — during the past seven years since its inception in 2007, the secretariat officials revealed at the press conference.
Another four categories received the following nominations — personal excellence, 111; best development project, 109; best technology, 123; and best production, 58, said Dr. Abdul Wahab Zaid, Secretary-General of the Award.
He announced the opening of nominations for the eighth session of the award in 2016 in five categories, starting from June 1, to October 13.
The first and second prize winners in each category will receive a cash prize of Dh300,000 and Dh200,000 respectively, along with a trophy and an appreciation certificate.
Dr Helal Humaid Al Kaabi, Head of the Administrative and Financial Committee, said studies, research and scientific experiments conducted by the candidates of the award have made a paradigm shift in the date farm sector, especially in production, marketing, irrigation methods and treatment of dates.
The officials expressed gratitude for the patronage of President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, and Shaikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Youth, Culture and Community Development and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Secretariat.
For more information, log on www.kidpa.ae
