On its opening sessions the Conference was attended by Prof. Rami Hamdallah, President of An-Najah, Dr. Ahmed Majdalani, the Palestinian Minister of Labor, Dr. Munqeth Shtayyeh, Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture and Head of the Organizing Committee, Mr. Abdel Hakeem Alfoqahaa, Director General of Palestine Poultry Company, as well as a number of agricultural engineers and interested people.

At the beginning of the session, Dr. Shtayyeh welcomed the attendants and said the Conference was held as part of the Faculty of Agriculture’s vision which seek to communicate with the local community and promote technology and knowledge to achieve more scientific research which would pave the way for solving the different problems that the various production sectors face, particularly the agricultural one.

He also thanked Prof. Hamdallah for his continuous support of scientific research and the Faculty of Agriculture, and Palestine Poultry Company for its support and funding of the event.

Prof. Hamdallah emphasized in his speech on the importance of agriculture in Palestine being a major sector that represents the backbone of the Palestinian economy and life. Agriculture has been practiced in the country for thousands of years so much so that it became one of the main sources of income for most Palestinians.

Moreover, the President pointed out that the development of agriculture has led to improvement in income; however, the agricultural sector has encountered many challenges due to the practices of the settlers and the occupation which continuously destroy the land and the farms and prevent Palestinian farmers from reaching their lands on many occasions.

But, despite all these practices and challenges, the Palestinians still hang on to their land and they are working on developing the agricultural sector in order to suppress these challenges and secure a better future for all Palestinians. Thus, this Conference came to stress the importance of scientific research in the agricultural field which would play a major role in supporting the Palestinian economy.

He also explained that solving the problems that agriculture and livestock encounter in Palestine, in addition to the desertification and land overuse should be considered a priority through discussing the presented papers by the specialized committees. The papers that the participating researchers presented addressed several issues such as plant and animal production, food production, economy, rural development and biotechnologies.

Dr. Majdalani said the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture has made huge steps according to the agricultural development plan which aims to develop the Palestinian agricultural sector. Agriculture is a major national, political and economical component; it is the key element in facing the practices of the occupation and supporting the Palestinian people. He added that the agricultural sector contributes to the local production and is a major source of income, and mentioned that the Ministry is substantially concerned with the field of agricultural research being a priority.

Mr. Alfoqahaa spoke about the role of the Palestinian private sector in developing the agricultural sector and highlighted the importance of scientific research in developing agriculture in Palestine.

The Conference covered several themes including plant production and protection, animal production and health, food production, agricultural economy, rural development, biotechnologies in agriculture, and agricultural natural resources.

The Conference aimed to highlight the importance of research in the agricultural field and the integration of efforts in agricultural research locally.