By : JD
Jordan Daily – On the occasion of the Silver Jubilee of His Majesty King Abdullah II , the National Agricultural Research Center (NARC) inaugurated on Saturday a new packing, grading, and cooling facility and laboratory at the Deir Alla Agricultural Research Center.
The initiative is part of ongoing research efforts to empower farmers and associations in rural areas by adding value to their products through enhancing agricultural research on post-harvest processes.
The facility was opened by Dr. Nizar Haddad, the General Director of NARC. Haddad stated that the opening of thefacility will serve as a nucleus for the economic empowerment of farmers, cooperative and charitable associations. This will be achieved through the provision of training projects, packing, wrapping, and grading.
Haddad emphasized that the goal of the facility is not production-oriented, but rather to familiarize farmers, engineers, exporters, and producers with some of the correct procedures in post-harvest storage operations. This knowledge can prevent crop damage due to a lack of understanding of the appropriate temperatures for each crop for storage purposes.
The project was funded by the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation through the Climate Change Adaptation Fund. It aims to enhance scientific research on post-harvest processes.
Adnan Al-Khadam Al-Balawneh, the President of Jordan Valley Farmers Union , noted that the facility and laboratory will enable farmers to understand post-harvest operations through training and empowerment projects to be implemented by the Center.
Ahed Al-Shoubaki, the head of the Agricultural Committee in the Balqa Governorate Council, expressed his confidence in the National Center’s ability to develop agricultural scientific research and achieve comprehensive agricultural development capable of enhancing food security.
He added that the Council is among the entities supporting research work in the center and will recommend all governorate councils in the Kingdom to support all research stations and centers spread across the Kingdom.
