Abu Dhabi: More than 400 people from 40 countries are to take part in the fifth international date palm conference next week, it was announced on Sunday.

The conference, which will be held from March 16 to 18, is being held under the patronage of President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Shaikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Culture, Youth and Community Development and Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research will attend the event at the Emirates Palace Hotel.

The three-day event intended to give 446 participants from different countries a chance to update their knowledge on date palm production, propagation, protection and marketing is expected to boost the date palm industry.

“This conference is one of many significant initiatives launched by the UAE University (UAEU) over the last two decades to promote the cultivation and industry of palm trees, starting from constructing the Date Palm Tissue Culture Laboratory (DPTCL) — which has helped in producing and distributing about 400,000 date palms of different varieties — since it was founded in 1989 to establishing an international date palm network and the Khalifa Centre for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering,” Dr Ali Rashid Al Nuaimi, vice-chancellor of UAEU, said.

The country has witnessed a great leap in date production recently, according to a study conducted by UAEU. The conference will see 354 participants representing 18 Arab countries and around 92 participants from 21 other countries. Around 163 participants will present scientific papers.

‘Valuable outcomes’

“This definitely reflects the prestigious scientific position and standing of the UAE globally in different areas and in particular date palm cultivation and date production. Numerous research, workshops and development programmes are in progress to produce and enhance date palm varieties,” he said.

“The conference will constitute an extra scientific achievement attained by the university. It is hoped that its research, papers and recommendations will result in valuable outcomes that can enrich the date palm industry,” Dr Al Nuaimi added.

All scientific research papers presented at the conference will be published and distributed to participants, universities and embassies in the UAE.

“The 163 research papers presented at the conference will be published in a book issued by the UAEU. The university will distribute books and CDs of scientific research to universities, embassies and schools to raise awareness about the date palm and encourage scientific research,” Dr Abdul Wahab Zayed, head of the organising committee, told Gulf News.

The conference will focus on the worldwide status of date palm cultivation, molecular and genetic engineering, the date palm gene bank, improved date palm cultural practices, agricultural practices, major diseases of the date palm and new technologies.

It is being organised by the UAEU in cooperation with the Khalifa International Date Palm Award.