JEDDAH: Ways of employing smart agriculture techniques to increase efficiency and productivity and achieve food security will be the focus of a celebration organized by the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture on Arab Agriculture Day on Thursday Sept. 27. The event in Riyadh is being held in parallel with the official celebration held at the headquarters of the Arab Organization for Agricultural Development in Khartoum, Sudan. “Smart Agriculture: A Better Future for Arab Agriculture” will be hosted by the Undersecretary of the Environment Ministry Ahmed Al-Ayedah, in the presence of the directors of all branches of the ministry in the different regions and the representatives of agriculture faculties in the universities as well as the board of directors of the cooperative societies, as well as specialists involved in smart agriculture. The ceremony, which will be held in the main hall of the National Center for Agricultural and Livestock Research in Riyadh, will honor a number of prominent farmers in the field of smart agriculture, and encourage investors to come forward. Al-Ayedah said that smart agriculture contributes to the provision of safe and pollution-free food, limiting the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides that are harmful to the health and environment. It also helps to overcome the impact of climate change. He added that smart agriculture depends on good agricultural systems that are capable of increasing productivity and enhancing quality without weakening natural resources. Ayedah added that the ministry has taken a lead in developing smart farming technology through establishing the organic agriculture development project and the Saudi Society for Organic Agriculture and the Organic Agriculture Research Center. The ministry drew up the Kingdom’s policy for organic agriculture, which was approved by the Council of Ministers. This strategy has been a great resource for farmers providing advice for those wanting to switch to organic methods. It has allocated $200 million (SR750 million) for this initiative.