His Excellency Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan, Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Khalifa International Award for Date Palm and Agricultural Innovation expressed his appreciation for the care the Award received under the wise leadership of H.H. Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE (May God protect him), and the support of H.H. Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and H.H. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Presidential Affairs, which pushed the Award towards achieving its current leading position on the local, Arab and international levels, and contribution to strengthening the UAE's role in serving the date palm tree and agricultural innovation sectors around the world.

This came during the virtual press conference held by Dr. Abdulouahhab Zaid, Secretary General of the Khalifa International Award for Date Palm and Agricultural Innovation, on Sunday the 14^th of February, 2021, through the virtual platform (zoom), and in the presence of Dr. Helal Humaid Saed Al Kaabi, Member of the Award’s Board of Trustees, and a number of members of the Award’s Scientific |Committee Scientific award. During the conference the Award winners in its thirteenth session were announced. We are proud of the high level the Award has reached within fourteen years thanks to the directives of His Excellency Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan, Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence, Chairman of the Award’s Board of Trustees, added Dr. Zaid.

Award Winners

The Award’s Secretary-General added that the 13^th session winners were selected within the Award’s categories, in accordance with the international standards and mechanisms followed, and based on the report of the Scientific Committee and the arbitration of the participating papers and after the approval of H.E. Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan, Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence, Chairman of the Award’s Board of Trustees. Where the results are as follows:

Distinguished Studies and Modern Technology category

1. Dr. Sarah Sallon / Research and Development Division / Hadassah Medical Organization / Israel

Origins and insights into the historic Judean date palm based on genetic analysis of germinated ancient seeds and morphometric studies.

Pioneering development and production projects (Equally Between):

1. Boudjebel S.A. VACPA For a Continuous Improvement of Date Palm Sector in Tunisia / Tunisia

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1. Development of sustainable date palm production systems in the GCC, Public-private-producer partnerships for a vibrant date palm industry and market
2. International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA)

Pioneering and advanced innovations to serve the agricultural sector category (Equally Between):

1. Teeba Engineering Industries Company / UAE

Palm and date devices and machinery – Design and manufacture from "Teeba Engineering Industries Company."

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1. Dr. Aqeel Hadi Abdulwahid / Agriculture College / Basra University / Iraq

Designing and Build a Smart Pollination Device for Date Palm and Monitor Using IOT

Distinguished individuals in the Field of Date Palm and Agricultural Innovation category (Equally Between):

1. Prof. Abdellah Mohammed Haj Mohammed / Spain

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1. Dr. Walid Abdul Ghani Kaakeh / Syria

The Award’s Secretary-General also added that the Award has achieved great milestones, with the blessing of H.H Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, “May God protect him”, founder and patron of the Award, as it is a great honor to the Award to carry the name of his highness, and this is what placed upon us a great responsibility to go towards wider horizons and to be leading in this field, aiming to be a one of its kind. His Excellency congratulated the winners in all categories of the Award, highlighting the fact that the winners are the added value that contributes to the development of the date palm sector and agricultural innovation across the world.

From his side, Dr. Helal Humaid Saed Al Kaabi, member of the Award’s Board of Trustees, confirmed that the Khalifa International Award for Date Palm and Agricultural Innovation in its Thirteenth session was distinguished by a set of key factors, the most prominent of which was the number of applicants reaching 153 candidates representing 28 countries from around the world.  Where the research and studies category gained the highest participation rate of 56 participants, followed by the pioneering innovations category with 42 participants, the distinguished individual category of 30 participants, and the category of development projects with 20 participants, noting that the work methodology of the Award’s General Secretariat is characterized by high transparency and complete neutrality.

Despite the continuation of the international pandemic of the emerging Corona virus (COVID-19), which has left its repercussions on all countries, institutions, the business sectors in various parts of the world. However, the Award’s work flow has not stopped, but has achieved a lot despite its commitment to all precautionary measures in the UAE, and the results were as follows:

1. Launching a series of virtual scientific lectures on the (ZOOM) platform with a total of 17 scientific lectures with the participation of a group of international experts, and an average of 69 researchers and experts in each lecture, representing 23 countries in the world.
2. Launching the Thirteenth session of the Khalifa International Award for Date Palm and Agricultural Innovation (June 2020)
3. The launch of the 12th edition of the "Date Palm through the Eyes of the World" competition (June 2020), in which more than 300 photographers representing 34 countries from around the world participated.
4. The launch of the fifth edition of the " Date Palm poetry competition" (June 2020), in which more than 318 poets from 16 Arab countries participated.
5. Signing five memoranda of understanding
6. Organizing the Abu Dhabi Virtual Dates Platform (23 November 2020) in cooperation with the Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company.
7. The Award officially launched the refrigerated stores that it implemented in Al Wahat Al Bahareya, Giza Governorate, Arab Republic of Egypt.
8.  Launching the "Date Palm Diseases and Pests" book, 2020
9.  Publishing the 12^th edition of the Blessed Tree magazine including two issues of the magazine.
10. Issuing the Award’s 12^th session annual book,2020.
11. Finally, the international report of “The Khalifa Award Report - Bridging the Borders”, on the bio- circular economy of date palms was issued, with the participation of 46 local and international contributors from 21 countries.