In his speech during the opening, Al-Hanaifat stressed that Jordan is aware of the importance of cultivating date varieties with high economic returns. Like the Medjool and Barhi cultivars, the ministry seeks to encourage non-traditional crops that meet the needs of local and international markets in accordance with quality and food safety standards.

 He said that developing the cultivation of the Medjool date palm, whose number of trees is estimated at about 650,000, is one of the most important varieties that distinguishes Jordan, and its production constitutes about 14 percent of the global production, and the Ministry is looking forward to expanding the cultivation of palm trees to one million trees.

 For his part, the Emirati ambassador in Amman, Ahmed Al Balushi, said that the third international festival of Jordanian dates confirms the depth of the historical bilateral relations between the two countries, and the close cooperation that links the two peoples and the two brotherly countries.

 On the other hand, the Secretary-General of the Khalifa International Award for Date Palm and Agricultural Innovation, Dr. Abdel Wahab Zayed, said the importance of the partnership between the award and the concerned authorities in Jordan and international organizations in the success of this festival, starting from the Ministry of Agriculture and the Jordanian Dates Association to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Center The International Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), the Arab Organization for Agricultural Development, the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture, the International Date Palm Network, and the Friends of the Palm in the Emirates, with the aim of upgrading the palm sector and supporting and revitalizing date cultivation in Jordan.

 For his part, the head of the Jordanian Dates Association, Eng. Anwar Haddad, said in his speech during the opening, that Jordan’s joining the list of date producing countries is the result of official efforts, farmers and the first pioneers who invested in this field, until the number of fruitful palm trees in the Kingdom reached about 650 thousand trees with a growth rate Annually exceeding 8%, it produces about 25 thousand tons so far, or 14 percent of the production of Medjool dates in the world.

 During the ceremony, the winners of the Jordanian Dates Competition in its third session were honored, which is the category of the best applied scientific research on palm trees in Jordan, won by Engineer Raed Lutfi, researcher at the National Center for Agricultural Research, and the category for the best production of the Medjool variety in Jordan won by the Jordanian Golden Palm Dates Company. The award is Abdel Baset Abdel Seboua. The category of best packaging for Jordanian dates was won by (Palmajo) company, and the award was received by Raed Ibrahim Muhammad Al-Basha.

 The category of the best food product of Jordanian dates was won by Bint Beladi Company, which received the award from Engineer Lubna Ahmed Khalil Kayed, and the category for the best distinguished farm for date palms in Jordan was won by the farm of the Integrated Company for Agricultural Projects, and the award was received by Ammar Al-Manasra.

 In the category of best innovation in the field of palms and dates in Jordan, it was won by (PALM EAR) company for the early detection of red palm weevil, and the award was received by Zaid Bassam Sinokrot, and the category for the best operator (packing house or factory) for dates in Jordan was won by Palmyra Company for the cultivation and trade of dates The award was received by Yazan Ahmed Mahmoud Abu Hantash.

 A number of influential figures in the date palm sector in the Kingdom were also honored, including Al-Haq farms for the great services they provided to the date palm sector in Jordan, which were received by the Director of Al-Haq Foundation, Dr. Eng. Ali Obeidat is one of the ancient date palm growers in Jordan for his prominent role in serving the date palm sector, and Eng. Abdul-Wali Fellahat for his distinguished experience in serving the date palm sector in the Kingdom.

 The ceremony was attended by a number of international, Arab and local personalities, members of the diplomatic corps, researchers, farm owners, producers of dates and companies in the Kingdom.