Abu Dhabi: Over the last 3 months, the Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority (ADAFSA) has delivered 449 specialized training workshops for farm owners and workers across the Emirate.
Through these workshops, ADAFSA intends to prepare participants for the new farming season by raising their awareness about the best farming practices, helping them increase productivity and improve local production quality.
The training workshops also focused on palm tree cultivation, as they coincided with its harvest season.
Close to 9,390 participants from different Arab and Asian nationalities joined the workshops where they were offered practical training in Arabic, Urdu and English to help them understand training materials.
THE ANNUAL TRAINING
Coinciding with the most prominent farming-related operations in the Emirate, the annual training is one of the most important extension programs offered by ADAFSA throughout the year.
The program promotes the best farming practices, increasing the agricultural production efficiency, thus meeting the Abu Dhabi government’s aspirations to ensure agricultural sustainability in the emirate’s farms.
To ensure covering farms in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and Al Dhafra, the training was delivered by ADAFSA’s extension engineers working in 26 agricultural extension centers. The training covered pest control, irrigation, palm and fruit trees, good agricultural practices, open-field, protected and organic farms.
EXTENSIVE TRAINING COVERING MAJOR VERTICALS
The training addressed 21 farming-related topics based on trainee needs. In the field of palm trees, for example, the training addressed ways to control palm pests and the most important operations while planting and harvesting trees. Establishing an orchard, grafting and pruning fruit trees are among the topics discussed in the training workshops.
In addition to reviewing ways to improve irrigation networks and management, the training highlighted ways to increase production in open-field, protected and organic farms, including agricultural fertilizers, fertilization methods, land preparation and crop management in greenhouses.
ADAFSA seeks to transfer knowledge and experience to farm owners and workers by developing their skills and introducing them to the most important agricultural practices, thus improving farm productivity and increasing farmers’ income.