US university to help set up date palm lab in Oman

Muscat: The Directorate General for One Million Date Palm Trees Project and the Omani Authority for Partnership for Development (OAPFD) and the University of Arizona of the USA, signed an agreement yesterday for the establishment of the Central Date Palm Trees Lab for the One Million Date Palm Trees Project, which will be in the Wilayat of Sumail.
The signing ceremony for the lab, was held at Al Wahat Club, under the patronage of His Highness Sayyid Dr. Fahd bin Al Julanda Al Said, Assistant Secretary General for Innovation Development at the Research Council.
The agreement was signed by Dr. Saif bin Rashid Al Shaqsi, Director General of the One Million Date Palm Trees Project, Dr. Dhafir bin Awadh Al Shanfri, CEO of the Omani Authority for Partnership for Development and Todd Shallcross, Director of Offset Projects at University of Arizona at the USA.
The Central Date Palm Tree Lab is a research centre that will prepare research, which will contribute to organising, developing and enhancing the date palm trees sector in terms of quality and production. It will also enhance and strengthen the manufacturing operations through conducting scientific research and studies, applying modern technology, monitoring and controlling date palm tree pests, regularly evaluating the date palm trees condition, analysing soil and irrigation water and recording the key environmental changes that affect the growth of date palm trees, such as heat, relative humidity and rains.
The Central Date Palm Trees Lab has three departments at the first stage, namely the plant protection research department, the horticulture research department and the biochemistry research department. The number of departments is expected to be increased to seven in the future.
The signing ceremony was attended by their highnesses, their excellencies, representatives from the US and Turkish embassies and those involved in the project.