The Minister of Agriculture, H.E Eng. Khaled Alhnaifat, sponsored the award ceremony for the winners of Al Hussein Fund for Excellence in Agriculture and Food Security, held at the Ministry's headquarters.

The ceremony to honor the agricultural award winners emphasizes the Ministry’s and the HFE’s commitment to encouraging farmers and agricultural researchers to develop agricultural technologies and methods. This ensures an increase in food production, which is a strategic goal for the Kingdom.

The Minister’s representative, Eng. Ayman Al-Oran, stated that Al Hussein Fund for Excellence award aligns with the objectives of the Economic Modernization Vision, which focuses on innovation and leadership in the agricultural sector. He praised the support provided by HFE to ensure the availability of resources necessary to develop skills and capabilities, particularly for young entrepreneurs, and to support their ideas, helping them turn those ideas into projects that contribute to increased food production in the Kingdom.

The awards covered several fields, including plant production, animal production, water and environment.

 In the plant production category, the first-place award went to the project on the breeding and use of the predator (Sterthorus sp) to combat the two-spotted red spider mite, presented by Dr. Mazen Atiyat, Ahmed Shobki, Mohamed Jbarat, and Issa Al-Ghargheer. The second-place award went to the project on detecting red palm weevil infestation using remote sensing technologies, presented by Noor Qotob and Dr. Muheeb Awawdeh. The third-place award went to the project on manufacturing eco-friendly fertilizers using nanotechnology and hydrogel, presented by Dr. Marouj Zeida, Dr. Mahmoud Qasrawi, and Dr. Imad Hamadneh.

In the animal production category, the first-place award went to the "Camillera" project by Engineer Sami Al-Lawama and Dr. Mohammad Al-Araishi. The judging committee decided to withhold the second and third-place awards due to the lack of qualifying projects.

In the water and environment category, the first-place award went to the project on producing peat moss for mushroom cultivation and plant tissue culture from organic waste, presented by Dr. Raed Khreis, Eng. Mohammad Heilat, Dr. Majd Abu Saleem, Eng. Ziad Nasser, and Dr. Anas Shdeifat. The second-place award went to the "Izraani" project for producing eco-friendly agricultural containers, presented by Mousa Samara. The third-place award went to the smart irrigation technology project presented by Ziad Al-Azzazmeh.

Dr. Ali Yaghi, General Manager of Al Hussein Fund for Excellence, stated that the idea behind the award reflects His Majesty the King’s interest in food manufacturing and aligns with the Economic Modernization Vision, which includes a key provision for increasing food production.

He confirmed that the fund launched the award in collaboration with the National Center for Agricultural Research, the Ministry of Agriculture’s research and development arm. The fund will cover the award costs, and the center will incubate the winning projects for up to two years to help the winners apply their ideas and turn them into products that serve the agricultural sector.

Dr. Yaghi expressed his thanks to the Board of Directors of HFE, headed by Dr. Adel Sharkas, Governor of the Central Bank of Jordan, for their enthusiasm for the award as it contributes to achieving national and strategic goals. He also extended his gratitude to everyone who contributed to the success of the award, including the members of the administrative committee and the judging panels for their dedicated efforts in ensuring the highest standards of objectivity and fairness in selecting the winners.

He pointed out that the judging panels included experts from various fields in Jordanian agricultural colleges, the Royal Scientific Society, the National Center for Agricultural Research, and the private sector.

Dr. Yaghi noted that 212 projects were submitted for the award, with 167 projects excluded by the administrative committee for not meeting the initial conditions. The remaining projects were forwarded to the judging panels.

It is worth noting that Al Hussein Fund for Excellence, one of the social responsibility arms of the banking sector in Jordan, serves as a center for promoting creativity and excellence and advancing sustainable development in the Kingdom. The fund launches various awards and projects aimed at discovering innovators and solution creators for local challenges across various sectors in Jordan.