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Palestine Technical University – Kadoorie in corporation with the Ministry of Agriculture and the Palestinian Agricultural Relief PARC held a workshop under the title “Tropical Agriculture in Palestine: Status and Developmental Horizons” which is the first specialized in the technical and economic aspects of tropical agriculture in presence of the directorates of agriculture, agronomists, farmers, plant nurseries along with a number of the university academic staff and students.
The Lecturer in the Department of Horticulture and Agricultural Extension Dr. Yehya Istetia opened the discussion explaining the workshop aims at raising the issue of tropical agriculture as it lacks discussion and scientific research, which is considerable and profitable agribusiness that needs to be developed in the future.
For his part, the Dean of Sciences and Agricultural Technology, Dr. Yamen Hamdan expressed the University President’s greetings, calling the participants to come up with potential recommendations to achieve the purpose of the workshop stressing thereby PTUK’s responsibility towards the community service.
He said that the workshop should have a clear purpose to solve the issues that encounter the agricultural sector giving rise to the contribution of reaching good outcomes that serve the farmers and ease their business.
The Director of the Palestinian Agricultural Relief PARC, Dr. Ahed Zanabeet noted that the Palestinian agricultural development cannot be achieved until true, concerned partnerships are fostered between institutions, paying more attention to enhancement and empowerment in the field of agricultural business.
Dr. Zanabeet talked about the actual status of tropical agriculture in the Palestinian market pointing out that the most tropical products are of Israeli sources which affirms the need to develop the Palestinian farmers’ skills to fill the gap in the local market, expressing PARC’s readiness to provide the necessary support and facilities to improve the agricultural sector.
Mr. Shareef Jayousi from the Ministry of Agriculture gave out a brief introduction about the climate of Tulkarem and Qalqiliah sub-tropical areas which are appropriate environment for the tropical agricultural products to grow in Palestine. He called for using the available environmental resources and seeking todraw on the expertiseof the relevant specialized bodies to develop the export facility for these products.
In this context, the Head of Horticulture Department at the Ministry of Agriculture, Nabeel Hamdan introduced a brief about recorded statistics and plantation areas of tropical trees in Palestine, touching on the vulnerabilities that hinder this type of crops and ways of treatment.
Mr. Ragheb Kamil from the Ministry of Agriculture talked about the most important pests that threaten tropical crops and their economic losses may sometimes lead to complete destruction, referring to cases of infections and to the protected areas as well as the procedures followed in the international protocols.
For his turn, Saleh Aisha from PARC pointed out their institution’s policy with regard to the implementation of projects supporting farmers across the country, pointing to its role in conducting typical views of the guava crop in Qalqiliah area and the obstacles faced by the project, in addition to the new project that aims at cultivating 4600 seedlings in Qalqiliah on an area of 120 donums as well as the irrigation cost reduction by rehabilitating wells and irrigation networks.
Emphasizing the Palestinian experience in the cultivation of tropical crops, the farmer Rami Al-Jada talked about his experience in the tropical plantations during the past years. He highlighted the most important obstacles that face farmers, from their first agricultural experiences to the cultivation of new varieties of tropical crops as well as the stages experienced in the local and foreign markets.
The lecturer at Palestine Technical University – Kadoorie Dr. Mazen Salman focused on a his study on the pests affecting tropical crops, particular avocado plant, which was carried out in partnership with the National Research Center of the Ministry of Agriculture where the fungus causing avocado crop wilt was first isolated in Palestine and studied in a laboratory to find possible ways of treatment.
Dr. Istetia suggested a feasible study to develop tropical crops and the financial returns from their marketing in the local and foreign markets, and the importance of their contribution in supporting the national economy.
At the end of the workshop, the participants recommended continuous support to the tropical agriculture as an alternative to traditional agriculture, enhancing the cultivation of these crops in Tulkarm and Qalqilya regions and to raise the farmers' awareness through the work of guidance bulletins that include procedures and instructions to implement projects for the development of tropical crops, taking into account the ability of nurseries to provide help and share experience with the farmers.
The participants called for the need to produce healthy and high quality crops through follow-up procedures, organized irrigation and fertilization, and to control unlicensed nurseries to reduce the sale of non-compliant products in addition to promote scientific research to use treated water to overcome the water crisis.
With regard to the marketing of tropical crops in the local market, participants stressed the need to control products smuggling, especially avocado and mango products, calling for organizing marketing days to ensure good profits and satisfactory price to the farmers and the consumers.
Supporting external links to export the Palestinian production was also encouraged and storage places and refrigerated equipment to maintain high quality products for marketing were also discussed.
