Certainly we are a desert country, located in a region with scarce rainfall, and we are not an agricultural country eligible for exporting food types, we are fully aware of this fact, but does that mean that we cannot secure our basic need for food internally without relying on import, at a time of crisis, at the very least, And in the event of such a difficult circumstance, which the world is going through as a result of the spread of the Corona virus, which forced the countries to retreat and close their borders and airports to other countries!
What if most of the world followed the example of Brazil, which decided to stop exporting most of its food products, and raised the slogan: "My people first"? Certainly, no one will blame it for that. In such crises, these behaviors become acceptable, and all international laws related to freedom of trade, or agreements between countries, will be lost with them.
Do we give up in such cases? What if the "virus" lasts as long as expected? What can we do? What guarantees that future viruses will not recur? Nobody guarantees this, but we have to expect the worst, so we must start, from now, to change food security strategies, to start inside, and raise the slogan of self-reliance, and this slogan can be turned into a real reality, provided that we start now, and not forget it in The stage after "Corona", in the clearest sense, we should really benefit from this lesson!
Many do not know that the UAE has developed a lot in the field of agriculture, and the Sahrawi state is no longer an obstacle to us, especially with the emergence of many modern irrigation technologies and systems. For example, drip irrigation contributed to reducing the rate of water consumption in agriculture to 60%, and the emergence of hydroponics It led to the production of vegetables in large quantities, and with a water consumption rate that does not exceed 15%, and this led to a rise in the contribution of local fruits to 20.3% of the total quantities offered in the state markets, while the contribution of local vegetables reached 12.2%, in less than two years!
And many do not know that almost 10 years ago from now, a remarkable report was issued by the General Secretariat of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf on agricultural development in the GCC states, stating that the UAE has succeeded in reaching a self-sufficiency rate of agricultural production in general, reaching 50% Of the need for local consumption, while the percentage of self-sufficiency in fruits reached 36%, after increasing the number of trees produced to about 74 thousand trees, producing no less than 40 thousand and 143 tons!
what does that mean? It simply means that we could rely on ourselves and achieve complete self-sufficiency in the sectors of foodstuffs, such as vegetables, meat, poultry, and fish, if interest and support and proper planning of these sectors continued, and if we gave them similar interest in other sectors, the Corona crisis proved today that there is no real benefit from it at all!
Agricultural plant production, animal production, and organic food processing facilities in the state do not need direct financial support from the government, they realize that this is not currently available to them, but they do not ask for more than providing protection, protecting them from dumping, and the intense competition that resulted in the years The past few days have caused it to retreat dramatically, and after it regressed, the day came when we recognized that protecting the local product was the only way to secure our needs in such difficult circumstances!
The sectors of agriculture, animal production, and poultry need government intervention to facilitate their tasks, considerate and support in reducing costs, such as fees and electricity bills, for example all poultry licenses and raising cows and fish, in all countries of the world are treated as agricultural licenses, except here in the Emirates, they are commercial licenses Industrial, and this entails high fees and high bills .. So where is the support ?!
Without exaggeration, we can secure our needs of vegetables inside the state, at a rate of 100%, and we can also secure dairy, meat, fish, and poultry with rates up to more than 80%, so the technologies are available, the capabilities are good, and the capacities are there, and what we only lack is government support and protection, and strategic planning the correct!
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