The Ministry of Agriculture Monday launched an Agricultural Information System project under a 2015 United States wheat donation valued at $25.1 million and as part of an $11 million grant for the food for development projects.

The launch was attended by the Ministers of Agriculture, Khaled Hanifat and Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship, Ahmad Hanandeh, and the Regional Representative of the United States Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service, Elizabeth Mello, as well as a representative of the project's donor.

Hanifat said that the project aims to establish a comprehensive and unified agricultural database to serve the sector by providing dynamic reports that meet the needs of decision makers and ensuring electronic connectivity with official partner agencies and the Kingdom's agricultural directorates and border posts.

The minister lauded the American support for various projects in the agricultural sector, which include a number of water harvesting projects and support for the laboratories sector under the US wheat donation, noting that these projects reflect positively on the agricultural sector and rural communities and raise food quality and safety levels.

Hanandeh pointed out that the data is valuable and important for all sectors, in general, and the agricultural sector, in particular, which has proved itself during the COVID-19 pandemic. He stressed that the Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship is committed to sustaining the empowerment in the digital development process.

For her part, Mello noted that this project represents the commitment of the United States government and the US Department of Agriculture to help the Jordanian agricultural sector. The project, she underlined, enables thousands of Jordanian farmers and traders to improve their production and work more efficiently.