Under the directives of H.E. Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan, Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence, Chairman of the Khalifa International Award for Date Palm & Agricultural Innovation Board of Trustees, the Award’s Scientific Committee annual meeting was held virtually on the 24^th of March, 2021. The meeting was chaired by Dr. Franz J. Hoffmann, with the attendance of Dr. Jose Lgnacio Cubero, Dr. Yvon Martel, Dr. Harrison Hughes, Dr. Samir Al Shakir, Dr. Abdallah Ben Abdallah, Dr. Fatima Al Ansari, Dr. Abdelouahhab Zaid, Award’s Secretary General, and the Award’s team, to discuss the agreed upon topics during the recent Award’s Board of Trustees meeting that was held on the 16^th of March, 2021, and that was chaired by His Excellency, President of the Board.

Dr. Abdelouahhab Zaid, highlighted the main topics that were agreed upon by the Board of Trustees, in regard to changing the Award’s 3rd category to be “Outstanding achievements in dates production / marketing/ processing”. The committee also discussed and agreed on starting to set a work plan on the 7th International Date Palm Conference, which will be held in March, 2022, where it has also been agreed to specifying a day for the Award winners’ (2008 – 2021) presentations and lectures on their winning research papers.

Moving forward, the committee also agreed to present a seminar on the 10^th of May, 2021, to highlight the Award’s nomination mechanism and criteria of each category, and to also facilitate and motivate the targeted groups to apply for the Award.