King calls for shifting to value-added agricultural products, targetting export markets

AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah on Sunday stressed the importance of helping Jordanian farmers shift from traditional farming to value-added agricultural products and target export markets.

During a visit to a farm project with HRH Crown Prince Hussein, King Abdullah commended entrepreneurial agricultural projects and their capacity to generate jobs, noting the importance of maintaining public safety procedures, according to a Royal Court statement.

The Jannat Adan farms in Southern Shouneh, which extend over 900 dunums, provide 100 permanent job opportunities and 200 seasonal ones.

The farms, equipped with an advanced irrigation system, include 7,500 palm trees and 37,000 grapevines, with 75 per cent of their yield exported, the statement said.

During a tour of the farms’ facilities, His Majesty was shown the advanced technology used in agriculture there, as well as the farms’ packaging centre.