NARC organises workshop on nuclear, biological technologies for strategic crop production

AMMAN — The National Centre for Agricultural Research (NARC) organised a workshop on Monday titled “The Use of Nuclear and Biological Technologies in Breeding and Improving the Productivity of Strategic Crops in the Face of Climate Change”. 

Director General of NARC Nizar Haddad said that the world is facing the challenges of a severe food crisis, with an estimated 691 to 783 million people experiencing hunger in 2022, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation’s estimates.

He added that Arab countries are struggling to meet their food needs, with low rates of self-sufficiency in grains, particularly wheat at approximately 46 per cent, 37 per cent for sugar, 54 per cent for fats and oils. “Therefore, genetic improvement of crops using various agricultural scientific technologies, such as biotechnology and nuclear techniques, has become an urgent necessity to obtain new plant varieties that contribute to achieving food security.”

This includes developing mutant varieties with suitable productivity, resistance to diseases, ability to withstand environmental pressures, or short-lived varieties to reduce water requirements and benefit from irrigation water.  

Yahya Shakhatreh, a researcher from the Arab Atomic Energy Agency, commended the leading role of the centre in transferring knowledge and agricultural sciences locally and regionally. He explained that the Jordan Atomic Energy Commission is responsible for developing joint Arab scientific work in the peaceful nuclear field as part of the Arab League.