1. His Excellency Dr. M.M. Elgabaly, Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation
2. Dr. A.F. Moursi, Deputy Regional Representative of FAO in the Near East
3. Mr. V. Pavicic, Resident Representative of the UNDP in Egypt
On behalf of the Egyptian Government, His Excellency Or. M.M. Elgabaly welcomed members of the Food and Agriculture Organization, the UNDP Resident Representative and participants from the countries of the region and others attending the Seminar. He thanked FAO for organizing and servicing the meeting. He stated that agriculture started in this region in the alluvial plains. When the land was irrigated, problems such as salinity developed and they were tackled scientifically. Due to population pressure and the rise in living standards, the countries of the region started to bring new lands under plough, most of which were calcareous. They were thus faced with numerous problems for which no definite solution was available and they tried to solve them by trial and error.
Realising the importance of these soils and the need for applied research on their problems, FAO is organizing this Seminar. His Excellency then enumerated the main problems of these soils which are: first, the high CaCO3 content and its effect on soil fertility and nutrient availability; secondly, soil crusting and its effect on seedling emergence and crop stand and thirdly, the low available moisture range. He was confident that countries in the region, in cooperation with FAO, would succeed in finding solutions to these problems.
He said that through the exchange of ideas and experience during the meeting, recent developments in this field could be expressed, discussed and, if suitable, adopted for application in the region and also an applied research programme could be properly planned. By coordinating their activities they would be able to find expeditiously solutions to the basic problems of these soils.
Dr. Moursi, Deputy FAO Regional Representative, on behalf of the Director-General of FAO welcomed the participants to the Seminar. He expressed appreciation to the Government of Egypt for hospitality to the Seminar and to UNDP for financing it. Dr. Moursi recalled that this Seminar had been organised upon recommendation of the Near East Commission for Land and Water Use and was third in a series of four devoted to specific land and water management problems in the Near East.
Mr. V. Pavicic, Resident Representative of the UNDP in Egypt expressed his appreciation to Dr. Elgabaly for presiding over the opening session of the Seminar. His presence reflected the interest of the Government of Egypt in development of calcareous soils. Mr. Pavicic stressed that the possibilities for horizontal land expansion are very limited so that increased attention needs to be given to soils already under cultivation. It is for this reason that UNDP supports soils studies which form a basis for agricultural development planning
