Rif Dimashq-SANA
The Arab Center for Studies of Dry Areas and Arid Lands (ACSAD) held today a training course in the field of applications of conservation agriculture and water harvesting technologies with the aim of helping to spread this agriculture and achieve food security.
The course included fifteen trainees from the Agricultural Extension and Plant Production Directorates in the Ministry of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform and came as a continuation of the workshop carried out by the Center in the Faculty of Agriculture at Damascus University, which targeted nearly 100 trainees from graduate and undergraduate students from various related disciplines.
The Minister of Agriculture, Engineer Mohamed Hassan Qatana, stated in a press statement that the aim of the course is to develop the experiences, knowledge and skills of the trainees in the correct application of the conservation agriculture system and to explain its components and importance as an alternative agricultural system to traditional farming systems, in addition to raising the level of knowledge and practical and scientific skills to ensure the achievement of the desired goals of the application. The correct conservation agriculture system, which constitutes a solution to the problems that led to the reduction of the efficiency of productive agricultural systems.
For his part, the Director-General of the Center, Dr. Nasr El-Din Al-Obeid, indicated that it is necessary to implement this system, which is one of the appropriate solutions, and it depends on three main components: non-cultivation of the soil, continuous coverage of the soil surface with green cover crops or plant residues, and the application of the appropriate agricultural cycle.
Director of Land and Water Uses Department at ACSAD, Dr. Ahmed Saleh Muhaimid, pointed out the need to emphasize the role of water harvesting technologies in improving water use efficiency and increasing the adaptive capacity of agricultural ecosystems in light of climate changes because of this great importance in improving mitigation factors and adapting to climate changes that led to to an increase in the frequency of drought cycles.
Dr. Ihab Jannad, Director of ACSAD Water Department, gave a presentation on climate changes and their impact on agricultural crops and the efforts and endeavors made by ACSAD and the Ministry of Agriculture to deal with these changes, including conservation agriculture and the development of varieties resistant to drought and desertification, biofertilizers, soil conditioners, green fertilization and organic farming.
A group of ACSAD experts will present scientific and practical lectures during the training course activities at ACSAD’s Izra Research Station for a period of three days, dealing with various theoretical and practical topics centered on the importance and role of applying the conservation agriculture system in improving water productivity, crop species and improving soil properties and the role of agricultural extension in spreading And adopting a system of conservation agriculture for farmers.
