Egyptian Leaders Discuss Biotech Developments

A workshop entitled Biotechnology for improving agricultural crops was held on January 5, 2015 at the Agricultural Genetic Engineering Research Institute (AGERI), Egypt. Organized under the auspices of Minister Adel ElBeltagy of the Agriculture and Land Reclamation, the workshop addressed different concerns related to biotechnology in the country.

 Speaking in behalf of the Minister, Prof. Abdelmoneim Elbana, President of the Agricultural Research Center (ARC) insured the importance of agriculture in solving the economic and food sufficiency problems in Egypt. He also stressed that the country has to follow modern technologies in agriculture to improve crop quality and production to be able to address food safety and climate changes. Speakers discussed recent work to improve crops using modern biotechnology techniques. Among these crops are wheat, durum wheat, potato, rice and maize. In addition, the importance and situation of biosafety law was addressed.

The workshop recommended the need to inform decision makers about the ongoing research in the field of biotechnology and its importance. Also suggested was for more media workshops and venues to address public sector issues.

For more news on biotechnology in Egypt contact Dr. Naglaa Abdulla of the Egypt Biotechnology Information Center at naglaa.abdallah@agr.cu.edu.eg