Under the patronage of His Excellency the Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Riyad Atari, QOU held a closing ceremony of the project “"Boosting Innovation in Education and Research of Precision Agriculture in Palestine/ BENEFIT /Erasmus+”, on Monday 9/18/2023 at the Palestinian Red Crescent Society - Al-Bireh.

The President of Al-Quds Open University, Prof. Samir Najdi, inaugurated the ceremony welcoming the attendants and expressing his happiness and pride in this project, which aimed to support the agricultural innovation system in Palestine. Prof Najdi praised the partnership with the Palestinian and European universities and its importance in developing educational and scientific research curricula. He thanked the European Union for supporting this project, hoping that its outcomes would be reflected positively in support of the agricultural sector in Palestine.

  The Director of the National Center for Agricultural Research, Dr. Mahmoud Abu Eid, in his speech on behalf of His Excellency the Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Riyad Atari said: “This project has a promising future for developing agriculture in Palestine towards enhancing innovation and scientific research to create sustainability in improving the outcomes of agricultural sector education, because it is considered a basic foundation for enhancing the steadfastness of the Palestinian citizen and farmer, as the Palestinian government pays most of its attention to this sector to confront the many challenges that face it, including the climate change, political challenges, and the Israeli occupation’s control over the resources of the Palestinian agricultural sector.” He also called for “keeping pace with digital technology and integrating it into the agricultural sector, because of its tangible impact on marketing channels.”

The representative of the Erasmus+ office in Palestine Ms. Aya Al-Fuqaha said: “We celebrate the success of this project which is supported by the European Union within the “Erasmus+” program. This cooperation between the government sector and academic institutions seeks to achieve rapid leaps towards sustainable development in the agricultural sector in Palestine.”

 Dr. Rozanna Belkova, from the Agricultural University of Nitra-Slovakia, expressed her happiness with this cooperation, saying: “It is not the first time we have worked together. We are happy with this opportunity that allows us to get to know Palestine and its friendly people, and we believe in the productivity of this project on the ground.”