The Ministry of Climate Change and Environment confirmed that fresh food does not transmit the emerging Corona virus (Covid 19), as there is no scientific evidence to prove the transmission of the virus by vegetables and fruits.
Alia Hareb, the agency’s food safety director at the ministry, told Emirates Today: “Maintaining safety and health is one of the most important strategic mechanisms for the ministry, and then continuously follows up and coordinates with all the international organizations responsible for the human, animal and plant health sector,” adding that it is “ There are no international recommendations or procedures, so far, to sterilize food products, except to wash them well with running water.
She indicated that the contact surfaces of the food should be sterilized, not the food itself, according to the recommendations of the World Health Organization, using one of the sterilizers recommended for use in the disinfection of surfaces in food establishments, which is an alcohol disinfectant of 70-80%, and a disinfectant that contains chlorine (ovary) .
The ministry divided the crops that are produced in the country according to the published and approved data, into three sections, and under each section a number of species are listed, namely vegetables: tomato, eggplant, zucchini, cucumber, cabbage, flower, watermelon, cantaloupe, pepper, molokhia, okra, beans , Potatoes, other leafy vegetables, and fruits such as: palm, lemon, benzher, lemon, pomegranate, grapefruit, other citrus fruits, mango, guava, chicos, sider, almonds, pomegranate, figs, field crops and fodder: jett, rhodes, museblou, corn, He explained that most of the agricultural crops that the country exports abroad are "dates."
The Ministry has developed a strategic plan aimed at increasing local agricultural production, raising its efficiency, achieving food safety and promoting food diversity, and then works to implement many initiatives, programs and activities that include legislation regulating the agricultural sector, and a food diversity policy that includes local production (agricultural crops, livestock, and fish farms). , Aquaculture), trade and investment (domestic and international), food consumption (food, food systems, food loss, food waste), food safety, common issues (strategic reserves, planning and coordination, data and information management, research and development, climate change ).
The initiatives that the Ministry is working on implementing include: Enhancing the marketing of UAE agricultural products, through which farmers are linked directly with consumers and outlets, and to achieve this the Ministry has signed a number of memoranda with major sales outlets such as the Union Cooperative Society in Dubai, Carrefour and Lulu, among others, what contributed Significantly in promoting the marketing of UAE agricultural products, for example the value of marketed products through this initiative in 2019 exceeded 80 million dirhams, and this reflected positively on farmers, in addition to sponsoring specialized festivals with a view to promoting local agricultural products.
Agricultural production requirements
The Ministry of Climate Change and Environment provides agricultural production requirements at half price, and provides pest and plant disease control services free of charge to farmers, and implements the Organic Agriculture Initiative and the Water Agriculture Initiative as a modern technology, the Agricultural Tourism Initiative within the Environmental Tourism Project, and the implementation of agricultural research as a cornerstone for the development of the national agricultural sector, and launched a portal My sustainable farm as an electronic system aims to convert agricultural extension services provided by the ministry and facilitate their access easily and conveniently, and the ministry is also working to raise food safety rates through several procedures.
"Climate change" has launched initiatives to enhance the marketing of UAE agricultural products.