(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Muscat- H E Dr Fuad bin Jaafar bin Mohammed al Sajwani, Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries on Monday inaugurated the two-day International Conference on Food Security, Agriculture Sustainability and Pulses at Crowne Plaza Muscat.
Senior government officials, agro-food industry CEOs, researchers from the country and around the world including Netherlands, the UK, Australia, Malaysia and India are participating in the conference.
H E Dr Sajwani said, 'This conference comes in response to the United Nations declaration of 2016 as Year of Pulses, and Food and Agriculture Organization's efforts to raise awareness on the importance of pulses as part of sustainable food production aimed towards food security and nutrition.'
Experts are discussing how Oman can become a 'Food Secure' nation which will be sustainable for generations to come. Key crops for Oman other than dates were discussed which include pomegranate and pulses.
H E Dr Sajwani supported the idea of agro industrialisation, sustainable agriculture and the development of food industries for meat, milk, poultry, fisheries and seed industry.
During the conference the food security roadmap for Oman was presented by Eng Saleh Amour al Shanfari, CEO, Oman Food Investment Holding Co (OFIC). Dr Rashid al Yahyai, dean, College of Agriculture & Marine Sciences presented a speech on agriculture sustainability.
Eng Shanfari said, 'The main objective of OIFC is to develop food projects. OFIC is the investment arm of the government to support food security driven projects. Vision of securing food security must be driven by smart investment which means investment that uses little water and produce more food. That should be the driver. We have limited water resources. How we use the water resources should be the main driver in our investment.'
Nora Ourabah Haddad, United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) representative to Oman, said in a recorded speech, 'The 68th UN General Assembly declared 2016 the International Year of Pulses (IYP). FAO has been nominated to facilitate the implementation of the year in collaboration with governments, relevant organisations, non-governmental organisations and all other relevant stakeholders.
'The IYP 2016 aims to heighten public awareness on the nutritional benefits of pulses as part of sustainable food production aimed towards food security and nutrition. Pulses are highly nutritious but the nutrition value is under-appreciated and insufficiently recognised. Pulses have a vital role to play in human health. World production of pulses has increased by 20 per cent between 1990 and 2013.
'However, the consumption has seen a steady decline in both developed and developing countries. The North Africa region is the only region where per capita consumption of pulses has increased.'
Magy Habib, FAO special ambassador for the IYP for the Near East and North Africa Region said she started incorporating pulse-based recipes, which she presented in several colourful, mouth-watering cooking clips, highlighting the various pulse dishes the programme offered throughout the year. The conference is being organised under the auspices of Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.
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