10th Agricultural Conference to Benefit from ACSAD’s Experience
DAMASCUS, (ST) – The 10th Conference for Agricultural Scientific Research, held recently here by the Public Authority for Agricultural Scientific Research, discussed ways of benefiting from scientific experiments to increase the productivity of agricultural crops and the role of the Arab Center for the Studies of Arid Areas and Dry Zones ACSAD in the development of agricultural research and raise the productivity of agricultural crops. The conference entitled Scientific Research and Reality of Agriculture.
The participants presented the possibility of benefiting from ACSAD in increasing wheat production in the Arab countries and the impact of seeding rates on the productivity of durum wheat in Hama and genetic improvement expected for some genotypes of durum wheat in addition to the effect of the way of agriculture and the depth of tillage in the growth and productivity of sugar beet in quality and quantity in the climatic conditions in the province of Homs, pointing to the possibility of developing a strain of beans of high output and disease-tolerant and studying the genetic origins of some of the local varieties of Syrian soft wheat.
The participants stressed the necessity of activating the role of farmers through the use of research carried out by the Technology Transfer Center ACSAD stressing the need to organize workshops and field days involving the largest possible number of farmers in the central region of Syria to be trained on the techniques of fodders and feeding of livestock.
Participants stressed the importance of biotechnology research, taking into account the genetically modified materials using molecular biology techniques for some of the products in the domestic market as well as increasing research in the field of food technology.
Participants reviewed several studies of economic and social analysis on the productivity of sheep, the development of the production of the wheat crop in the Arab world, plant protection, ways to reduce the encroachment of sand in the Syrian Desert and taking advantage of the water consumption by using localized irrigation at the Irrigation Research Station in Damascus Countryside.
The participants also demanded a study of the water balance in the watershed management, the impact of water shortage in the productivity of peanut by using drip irrigation system, studying the impact of drought on planting some rain-fed crops and productivity.
The conference aimed to discuss the possibility of reaching a specific strategy in the modern agricultural scientific research that carries an economic value in all areas of agriculture in Syria and raise the quality and quantity of production, thus contributing to the achievement of water and food security.
Sharif el -Khatib