Her Excellency Dr. Mariam Al Shenasi, the Assistant Undersecretary for Technical Affairs at the Ministry of Environment & Water, has honored the participants in the regional session training on the management of seed health units,
, organized by the Ministry in cooperation with the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), at the Flowers Center in Dubai. The course aimed to develop the plant health inputs tests in general and seeds health in particular, protecting seeds from pathogens, and to develop general strategies to regulate the health of seeds in the Arabian Peninsula.
Her Excellency commented that the Ministry is seeking -through its laboratories- to adopt new standards for screening seeds according to international requirements, and it is important that the process of seed production shall be done in a safe and healthy environment that is free from contaminants and infections to avoid production shortages, the lack of good quality and the spread of pathogens causes. The Ministry is also working on the development and modernization of seeds health laboratory by developing its infrastructure, introducing the process of how seed production can be done in healthy ways and methods, how to follow-up seed growth in the field, how to make sure that seeds are free of diseases through laboratory tests, and the Ministry will work on linking the phytosanitary laboratories electronically, in addition to organizing practical courses in seed health management.
The session focused on the importance of healthy plants and seeds, diagnosing the pathogenic fungi and toxins that may results from them, and seed health tests, in addition to the identification of important diseases that affect ornamental plants, the phytosanitary measures and standards, and seed health effects on production. The training session was overseen by Dr. Siham Asaad, Professor of Plant Pathology and the Head of the Seed Health Unit, in addition to Dr. Ibtisam Ghazal, Professor of Plant Pathology, and delegations participating in the session from the Ministries of Agriculture of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, State of Qatar, Kingdom of Bahrain, Sultanate of Oman, State of Kuwait, Republic of Yemen, as well as the United Arab Emirates.