UAE: Nominations open for 17th Khalifa International Award for Date Palm and Agricultural Innovation

Abu Dhabi [UAE], June 5 (ANI/WAM): The General Secretariat of Khalifa International Award for Date Palm and Agricultural Innovation announced the opening of nominations for its 17th session (2025), from June 4, 2024, to December 15, 2024, allowing date palm growers, producers, researchers, academics, and date palm tree lovers, from around the world to apply.
The award is held under the patronage of Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Award.
This announcement was made during a press conference held by the Award's General Secretariat today at the Emirates Palace Hotel, in Abu Dhabi, in the presence of Dr Abdelouahhab Zaid, Secretary-General of the Khalifa International Award for Date Palm and Agricultural Innovation, and Dr Helal Humaid Saed Al Kaabi, member of the Award's Board of Trustees.
Dr A Zaid stressed that the Award contributed significantly to the increase in the number of participants from the UAE in the various categories of the Award, over seventeen years.
"Consequently, we found a direct growth in the number of winners from the UAE, compared to the number of winners from the rest of the world, which indicates the positive impact the award has on all the concerned entities in the country, and those working in the date palm cultivation, production, manufacturing and marketing sectors, as well as researchers, and influential figures in this field, which contributed to enhancing the competitiveness of Emirati dates."
For his part, Dr Helal Humaid Saed Al Kaabi, a member of the award's board of trustees, announced the statistics and details of the award's participants, over the past seventeen years.
The total number of candidates in the award's categories reached 2,012 participants, representing 59 countries from across the world, of whom 102 won, 1,586 Arab participants, of whom 54 won, and 160 participants from the UAE, of whom 30 won. The number of foreigners participating in the award reached 265, of whom 18 won, where 73 distinguished national and international organisations and personalities were honoured, including 34 personalities from the UAE.
The number of participants in the Distinguished Innovative Studies and Modern Technology category, reached 910, i.e. 45.23 percent. The number of participants in the Pioneering Development and Productive Projects category reached 294 participants, i.e. 14.61 per cent.
The Distinguished Producers category reached 102 participants, i.e. 5.07 per cent.
While the number of participants in the Pioneering and Sophisticated Innovations Serving the Agricultural Sector category, reached 406 participants, i.e. 20.18 per cent, and the number of participants in the Influential Figure in the Field of Date Palm and Agricultural Innovation category, reached 291 participants, i.e. 14.91 per cent.
The Award's General Secretariat also announced it will also be receiving online applications., noting that the Award winners' names will be announced in January 2025, and the honouring ceremony will be held in February 2025. (ANI/WAM)