Abu Dhabi: Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence and Chairman of Khalifa International Award for Date Palm and Agricultural Innovation Board of Trustees, today, inaugurated the International Date Palm and Agricultural Innovation Electronic Library, which consists of more than 230 books, in English, French and Arabic languages.
Sheikh Nahyan then launched Khalifa International Award’s Video Library, which consists of more than 195 videos, in both English and Arabic languages, documenting the award’s journey of activities and events, over 15 years. Dr Abdelouahhab Zaid, the award’s Secretary General, added that this initiative came from the Award’s keenness and sense of responsibility of spreading scientific knowledge in line with the global digital transformation, highlighting the success achieved by the award during its 15-year journey of leading the development of date palm cultivation sector and agricultural innovation regionally and internationally.
‘Sharing scientific knowledge’
“As a reflection of the award’s strategic objectives, the award’s General Secretariat worked to create a non-profit platform to share scientific knowledge in the field of date palm cultivation and agricultural innovation in various languages, which was achieved through launching the specialised International Date Palm and Agricultural Innovation Electronic library, as it is the first of its kind. All books available in the library can be browsed and downloaded free of charge at (www. eidpl.com).”
The International Date Palm and Agricultural Innovation Electronic library has the advantage of contributions from a number of prestigious regional and international organisations, enriching the library with scientific publications from organisations such as Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), the Arab Organisation for Agricultural Development (AOAD), the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), The Islamic Development Bank (ISDB), the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA), as well as international experts and researchers.
Free-of-cost downloads
This initiative followed the launch of Khalifa International Award for Date Palm and Agricultural Innovation E-Library, on June 24, 2020, which coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic. The award’s e-library, which is available in both Arabic and English languages, includes more than 400 specialised scientific sources that were classified into eight main categories: Award’s Yearbook (12 Editions), The Blessed Tree Magazine (34 issues), The Photography Book (12 Editions), the Winners’ Book (12 Editions), Media Reports (205 Reports), Scientific books (41publications), Scientific virtual lecture series (33 Presentations), and 50 booklets. All publications and contents of the library can be browsed and downloaded free of charge from www.ekiaai.com