Doha: The Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME) represented by the Agricultural Researches Department participated in the 17th conference on biotechnology and microbiology in London, organised by Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) and FERA.
The ministry's participation comes as part of its continuous keenness to develop work in the scientific research field, to promote its network of relations with various countries in the world to serve common interests, goals and aspirations.
Its participation also aims to open wide areas for exchanging experiences and cooperation in various scientific fields, especially in the field of training researchers in the ministry and developing their specialized and research capacities in the field of agriculture, biotechnology, animal and plant research, food security, bee health, crop protection, food and feed quality and environmental chemical safety.
On the sidelines of the conference, the ministry's delegation under the leadership of head of the Agricultural Researches Department Hamad Sakit Al Shammari, presented a number of researches in areas related to the marine environment and environmental microbes.
In addition, Amina Al Malki presented a research on the importance of rare microbes newly discovered in the Qatari marine environment and Dr. Mai Al Ghanem touched on the importance of marine environment organisms, especially environmental microbes, in finding new natural alternatives for use as antibiotics and insecticides.
In addition Reem Al Haydoos spoke about the importance of the use of modern techniques in microbiology and biotechnology in the study and identification of the genetic origin of marine organisms 'fish.
APHA and FERA are of the most important scientific and research centers in the United Kingdom and the world. In this context, the ministry, represented by the Agricultural Researches Department on the sidelines of the conference, held a number of consultative meetings with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), APHA and FERA.
During the meetings, they discussed ways of joint research cooperation between these agencies and the Agricultural Researches Department, as well as the issue of food safety, agricultural crops and cooperation in aquaculture in addition to the importance of controlling antimicrobial microbes, monitoring endemic diseases and new and emerging threats in pastoral and terrestrial animals.
They also discussed crop health, biosecurity, food and feed safety, quality and risks of environmental pollution on food, fodder, pest control, insect use as a source of protein, and food for animals and fish.