ICARDA Wins the Date Palm Innovation Technology Excellence Prize 2024
21 February 2025, Saudi Arabia: ICARDA is proud to announce that its groundbreaking project, the Solar Mobile Dryer for maturing and drying dates, has won the Date Palm Innovation Technology Excellence Prize for 2024. This prestigious award, presented by the National Center for Palms & Dates (NCPD) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, celebrates advancements in the palms and dates sector.
Within the ICARDA Team, Muhi El-Dine Hilali played a critical role in developing the technical design of the solar drier. His vision was then brought to an award-winning reality by his team of colleagues.
The full team are:
- Muhi El-Dine Hilali, Food and Feed Processing Scientist
- Arash Nejatian, Activities Coordinator Officer
- Boubaker Dhehibi, Principal Natural Resources Economist
- Abdoul Aziz Niane, Regional Coordinator APRP
The project was made possible thanks to the generous funding and support provided by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) through the “Development of Sustainable Systems for Date Palm in the Countries of the GCC” project.
The Solar Mobile Dryer is an innovative, eco-friendly solution that harnesses solar energy to improve the quality of dried dates. Its portable design protects products from dust and rain and reduces energy, labour costs, post-harvest loss and waste for date palms. It also promotes an accessible, affordable, and impactful locally adaptable approach, empowering smallholder date palm growers and enhancing date production, achieving the desired colour and quality for market demands. This innovation represents a significant step forward towards promoting sustainable agricultural practices in the dry regions, where we work.
Congratulations to the ICARDA team and national partners for this remarkable achievement!
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