Egypt Conference Promotes Agriculture and Environment for Sustainable Development

The international conference on Agriculture and the Environment for Sustainable Development was held at the National Research Center in Egypt on May 25-27, 2015. The objectives of the conference were to discuss problems faced by Egypt in the field of agriculture and environment and provide modern technological means for improved farming to attain food security.

In his presentation, Prof. Ragab Ragab, Vice President of the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID), stated that increasing population in the next 50 years combined with increased consumption will greatly affect water availability. Food security requires the production of more crops per water drop. Savings in water is significant. He stressed that to overcome food insecurity we need to develop new crop varieties with higher yields per unit of water, e.g., crops with comparable yields, but shorter growth periods, with drought and salt tolerant and with high harvest index, and improve C3 efficiency to the level of C4 plants.

Prof. Nadia Zakhary, former Minister of Scientific Research, said that Egypt should adopt the recent technologies in the field of agriculture that are based on scientific backgrounds. Zakhary added that Egypt should pay attention for cultivating the territory of Sinai.

Many international bodies participated in the Conference, such as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), ICID, Arab Association for Science and Technology in the UAE, Egypt Biotechnology Information Center (EBIC), Agricultural Research Center, Center for Change Information Climate and Renewable Energy Fund, Science and Technological Development Fund for Agricultural Development Program, and international and Egyptian universities.

For more information, contact Prof. Naglaa Abdallah, Director of Egypt Biotechnology Information Center: naglaa.abdallah@agr.cu.edu.eg.