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The 44th Meeting of the Board of Trustees of the International Centre for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA) opened at Al Bustan Palace Hotel on 6 November 2004 under the auspices of H.E. Dr Rawyah bint Saud Al Busaidiyah, Minister of Higher Education, Sultanate of Oman.
Addressing the opening ceremony, Khalfan bin Saleh Al Na’abi, undersecretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, said ICARDA made good efforts in stimulating agricultural research on field and forage crops and plant genetic resources. As a result, he said, new species were introduced in the Sultanate’s farms which resulted in an increase of 15 per cent in wheat and barley productivity.

From Left H.E. Khalfan bin Saleh Al Na’abi, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries; Prof. Dr Adel El-Beltagy, Director General ICARDA; H.E. Sheikh Salim bin Hilal al Khalili, Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries; H.E. Dr Rawyah bint Saud Al Busaidiyah , Minister of Higher Education; H.E. Mohammed Al-Oraimi, Undersecretary for Environmental Affaires; and Mr Omar Al-Marhoon, DG of Administration and Finance, Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.

The Undersecretary said ICARDA’s Arabian Peninsula program had contributed to research on greenhouse vegetable crops, introduction of technologies for efficient use of water for agricultural purposes which would save 30 to 50 per cent of water consumption. The Undersecretary said the Ministry in cooperation with ICARDA conducted a number of surveys to identify and collect genetic resources of indigenous shrubs and forages. He added that ICARDA also provided support in establishing a seed technology unit at Rumais Agricultural Research Center. The opening ceremony was attended by H.E. Sheikh Salim bin Hilal Al Khalili, Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, undersecretaries and officials. ICARDA’s BoT Executive Committee members visited the collaborative research activities in Oman on 7 November.

The Chairperson of ICARDA’s Board of Trustees and the Director General inaugurated the Seed Technology Unit at Rumais, established in collaboration with ICARDA. The national staff, who received training at ICARDA, proudly explained the operations of the Unit to the visitors.

The members visited the Agricultural Research Center, where they witnessed the application of soilless culture techniques and Integrated Production and Protection Management program (IPPM) for the production of high quality vegetables and fruits. Visits were also made to the food science, biotechnology, bio-control and toxicology laboratories.

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