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The 3rd Regional Steering Committee Meeting (RSCM) of the Arabian Peninsula Regional Program (APRP) was held on the 3rd October 2002 in Sana'a, Yemen. The meeting was opened by H.E. Mr. Ahmed Salem Al Jabaly, Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation. In his address, the Minister focused on water shortages in Yemen and the need to restrict Banana export, which is a crop that requires excessive water. He said, the irrational use of chemicals is another problem facing Yemen and needs to be addressed seriously. The efforts by APRP in introducing protected agriculture (growing vegetable crops) and in the area of improving grazing lands by utilizing the local indigenous species are in the right direction of addressing both problems (chemicals and water shortages). Growing of "Qat" is one of the biggest problems, because of its high water requirements and because of the excessive use of chemicals by the growers. The Minister added that more efforts are needed to reduce the construction cost of the Greenhouses and to provide the farmer with crops of high water use efficiency.

 Dr. William Erskine, Assistant Director General for Research welcomed the participants on behalf of ICARDA-DG to the 3rd RSCM and thanked the Donors: the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the OPEC Fund for International Development for their continuous support to APRP. The Program is at the cross roads, he said, since it is approaching the end of its current phase by June 2003. This meeting therefore is extremely important to come up with new directions for the future financing of the program. Dr. Erskine welcomed the recent step taken by the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf to be member in the CGIAR.

 Dr. Ismail Muharram, Chairman of the Board of the Agricultural Research and Extension Authority (AREA) expressed his deep appreciation on behalf of AREA for the long and fruitful collaboration with ICARDA. He praised the dedicated efforts of ICARDA-Arabian Peninsula Program in Yemen in the area of range management and Protected Agriculture. Dr. Muharram welcomed members of APRP-Steering Committee and wished them a successful meeting.

The Steering Committee Meeting took place after the opening ceremony which was chaired by Dr. William Erskine. The meeting was attended by 18 participants representing AP countries: Bahrain, the Emirates, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Yemen and ICARDA – APRP Specialists. 

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