Professor of Water Resources at the regional Arabian Gulf University (AGU), Bahrain. He serves as the coordinator of the Water Resources Management Graduate Program and the coordinator of the UN Water Learning Center for the Arab Region hosted by the AGU, and serves as a member of the Permanent Advisory Committee of the Water Resources Council in the Kingdom of Bahrain. He obtained his PhD from Colorado State University in 1990 in the field of groundwater systems mathematical modeling. He teaches graduate courses in Hydrogeology and Water Resources Development, Management and Planning in Arid Regions; has published more than 100 research papers in peer-reviewed journals, book chapters, conferences, and seminars;, and supervised more than 45 MSc and PhD theses

Prof. Mohamed Ouessar has a doctorate in Applied Biological Sciences (Land management) from the University of Ghent in Belgium. He is currently a senior researcher at the Arid Zone Research Institute (Tunisia).

He has contributed actively to the realization of numerous joint research projects funded by national and international agencies. His research programs focused mainly on water harvesting, GIS based hydrological modeling and decision support systems, impact assessment, watershed management, climate change impacts and adaptation, combating desertification and drylands management.

He contributed also to the training and capacity building through supervision of trainees and students of all levels from national and international centers and organizations and universities

H.E Dr. Abdulaziz Almalik ,Deputy minister for research and innovation for the Ministry for Environment Water and Agriculture, Saudi Arabia

Abdulaziz Almalik is the deputy minister for research and innovation at the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture of Saudi Arabia. Prior to joining MEWA, he served as vice-president for scientific research support, vice-president for innovation and technology commercialisation, director of the Life Sciences and Environmental Research Institute, vice-chair of the Scientific Council, and professor of pharmaceutical sciences at King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (2015-23). He was also a senior adviser to the governor and a founding member of the founding team of the Research, Development and Innovation Authority. He has extensive experience in developing and managing national-scale RDI initiatives backed by knowledge of intellectual property generation, acquisition, management and strong academic credentials.

 EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS: 

• PhD in International Agricultural Development from Tokyo University of Agriculture. Japan. 
• Master of Science Diploma in Plant Breeding from the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies- Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Saragossa (CIHEAM-IAMZ). Spain. 
• Diploma of Specialized Post-Graduate Studies in Plant Breeding from International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies- Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Saragossa. (CIHEAM-IAMZ). Spain. 
• Agricultural Engineer Diploma from Hassan II Institute of Agronomy and Veterinary Medicine (IAV Hassan II). Rabat. Morocco 

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE 

• Chief of Farming at Al Madinah Heritage Company. (2023-Now)
• Agricultural Expert at the National Center for Palms & Dates. Riyadh. (2022-2023) 
• R&D and Projects Manager at Yousef Abdul Latif and Sons Agriculture (YALA). Yousef Abdul Latif Jameel Group (YALJ Group). Saudi Arabia and Quality Manager at ASYLA Gum Co Ltd. Senegal (Feb 2020-2022). 
• R&D, Organic project and Quality Manager at Yousef Abdul Latif and Sons Agriculture (YALA). Saudi Arabia (June 2019-Feb 2020) and Quality Manager at ASYLA Gum Co Ltd. Senegal. Yousef Abdul Latif Jameel Group (YALJ Group) (Feb 2020-Now) • R&D Manager. Yousef Abdul Latif and Sons Agriculture (YALA). Yousef Abdul Latif Jameel Group (YALJ Group). Saudi Arabia (2010- June 2019) 
• Visiting Professor at the Faculty of Sciences and Techniques (FST)-University of Kadi Ayyad. Beni Mellal. Morocco (2002-2010) 
• Research scientist at the Biotechnology Unit, Laboratory of Molecular Biology, INRA (National Institute of Agronomic Research). Morocco. Rabat (2008-2010) 
• Manager of the Department of Technical Education, Vocational Training, Research and Development at the Regional Directorate of Agriculture in Tadla. Morocco (2008-2010) 
• Manager of the Regional Department of Certification of Seed and Nurseries. Beni Mellal. Morocco (2000-2008) 
• Controller of seeds and nurseries at the Regional Department of Certification of Seed and Nurseries. Beni Mellal. Morocco (1997-2000) 
• Farm Manager of Haddawi Farms. Larache. Morocco. (1995-1997) 

Woody possesses over 16 years of experience in designing and implementing collaborations in both private and public sector in the areas of outcome-driven transformation, strategic advisory, delivery unit design and activation.

His experience covers organizations in various countries in SE Asia, Middle East, and Africa, and he has previously advised Ministers on National Level initiatives in these countries. 

In NEOM Food, Woody is responsible for building and maintaining synergistic strategic initiatives with key public sector partners, stakeholders, and other entities within the food ecosystem in NEOM and KSA, particularly in the areas of regulations, innovation, research and talent pipeline development."

PhD from Auburn University, Alabama, 2016.

He held a number of administrative positions at King Faisal University and represented the university in the National Dialogue Workshop for Sustainable Food Systems in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as well as in a workshop for the G20 meeting entitled: Water, Energy and Food. In addition to a number of international conferences, he also worked in a number of committees within the university and at the Kingdom level, and is Chairman of the Scientific Committee of the International Conference on Food Security and Environmental Sustainability. He currently works as an associate professor at King Faisal University and holds the position of Dean of the College of Agricultural and Food Sciences since 2019.

Salim Al-Babili received his PhD from the University Freiburg, Germany. After his PhD, he obtained a Rockefeller Post-Doc fellowship to work on developing “Golden Rice” in the lab of Peter Beyer and in collaboration with Ingo Potrykus. In 2007, he received his Habilitation in Cell Biology at the University of Freiburg and is currently Professor for Plant Scince and Bioengineering at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), and Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs. The general objective of his research group, the BioActives lab, is to improve the performance and nutritional value of crops by genetic engineering or through application of growth regulators. His group combines enzymology-based, metabolomics and genetic approaches to elucidate metabolic networks and identify new signaling molecules related to abiotic/biotic stress and plant development, with focus on carotenoid and apocarotenoids. Salim Al-Babili has made essential contributions to engineering crops with enhanced pro-vitamin A content and to elucidating carotenoid/apocarotenoid metabolism in plants and microorganisms. His work on retinal biosynthesis in cyanobcateria led to the first structure elucidation of a carotenoid cleavage oxygenase. Through the discovery of carlactone, his research deciphered the core-pathway in the biosynthesis of the carotenoid-derived plant hormone strigolactone. In the last years, he has been focusing on the identification and biology of novel apocarotenoid growth regulators, which revealed the regulatory metabolite anchorene, and the hormone-candidate zaxinone and an epoxidase-independent route for abscisic acid biosynthesis. Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and KAUST, he is currently heading an international consortium to combat the root parasitic plant Striga hermonthica, a major threat to global food security, in sub-Saharan Africa, by using hormone-based approaches based on his basic research. He has several patents and more than 150 peer reviewed papers.

Prof. Salah El-Hendawy obtained his PhD from the Department of Plant Sciences at the Technical University of Munich, Germany in 2004. He has held various faculty positions in the Agronomy Department at the Faculty of Agriculture at Suez Canal University from Demonstrator to Professor. He was awarded a postdoctoral scholarship from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) in 2007 and the Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS) in 2009. Seconded to work as a professor in the Department of Plant Production at the College of Food and Agricultural Sciences - King Saud University in 2012 until now. He has published over 100 research articles in international scientific journals indexed in Q1 and Q2. He has been recognized among the top 2% of scientists worldwide for 2021 and 2022. His research focuses on enhancing irrigation water management and introducing innovative approaches to maximize irrigation water use for field crops in arid and semiarid conditions. Recent efforts have focused on non-destructive methods to accurately assess important traits of drought- and salt-affected genotypes under field conditions (Precision Phenotyping).

Independent consultant & former director of, the Water, Land, and Ecosystems Program, the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA). Formerly, a distinguished professor of agricultural water management at Tottori University in Japan. Since 1991, worked for ICARDA as director, scientist, and research manager. Earlier, worked for the University of Jordan, as an assistant prof. in irrigation and drainage engineering. Received BSc. degree in agriculture and MSc and Ph.D. in irrigation engineering from Utah State University, Utah, USA. Has over 40 years of experience and leadership in international research and development, capacity building, and agricultural water management. Worked in over 80 countries on implementing projects, training, and mobilizing funds for agricultural water management projects in developing countries. Author of 86 refereed journal publications, 13 books, 34 book chapters, and over 200 proceedings, reports, and awareness publications in the areas of water use efficiency, supplemental irrigation, water harvesting, water productivity, deficit irrigation, salinity, and the management of scarce water resources. Reviewer and member of editorial boards of several refereed journals.

Dr. Pierre Broun is Director of Climate-Resilient Agriculture at NEOM, overseeing the development of sustainable, innovative and profitable farming systems to support food self-sufficiency at NEOM and food security for the country. 

Before joining NEOM, Dr. Broun held executive positions in the food industry to ensure sustainable agricultural supply, leading plant science and technology in large agri-food companies, including over 10 years as head of plant science at Nestlé. 

Dr. Broun started his career in biotechnology, both in industry and academia. 

He holds a PhD in plant breeding and biometry from Cornell University.

Ismail Cakmak earned his PhD at the University Hohenheim in Stuttgart, Germany, and full Professor at the Sabanci University, Istanbul, Turkey. Published over 240-peer-reviewed articles, named among the “highly cited researchers” by Clarivate Analytics (Thomson Reuters) and ranked   in the top 0.05 % of most influential scientists in all scientific disciplines in 2022 by Stanford University, based on Elsevier’s Scopus Database.

He has received IFA “International Crop Nutrition Award in 2005, Australian Crawford Fund “Derek Tribe Medal” in 2007, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation-Georg Forster Research Award in 2014, International Plant Nutrition Institute-IPNI Science Prize in 2016 and the World Academy of Sciences-Agricultural Science Prize in 2016.  He is an elected member of “The Academia Europaea” and “The Science Academy” of Turkey.

Joined International Centre for Bio-Saline Agriculture (ICBA), Dubai as Program Leader/section head of the Crop Diversity and Genetics group on 15th Nov 2018 after long stint in rice crop for abiotic stresses. Currently leading the specialized group working on use of suitable cropping solutions for very harsh marginal environments (salty water and soil, drought and high temperature) which is going to be much worsened in future due to climate change. Our major focus in middle east and north Africa (MENA), Central Asia and sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), besides recent outreach to S and SE Asia as well.

Ali Al Lawati is a scientist in the field of Plant Genetic Resources and crop improvement. Currently, Al Lawati is Assistant Professor in Plant Genetics and Biotechnology in the University of Nizwa. Current, research activity is on the medicinal plants’ conservation and characterization. In addition, Al Lawati is managing the Seed genebank a collaborative project between Oman Animal and Plant Genetic Resources Center and the University of Nizwa.

Al Lawati had BSc. (1990) and MSc. (1998) in Plant Sciences and Environment Sciences, respectively, from Sultan Qaboos University, Oman. he had a Ph.D. (2006) in Agronomy (Plant Breeding and Genetics) and minor in Experimental Statistics from New Mexico State University, U.S.A.

Hirt studied biochemistry at the Univ. of Cape Town and Vienna where he received his PhD in 1987. After post-doctoral fellowships at the Univ. of Oxford and Wageningen, he became Professor of Genetics at the Univ. of Vienna. In 2007, he was nominated Director of the INRAe Plant Genomics Institute in Paris and of the Center for Desert Agriculture at KAUST in 2014. Hirt has a long standing record on how plants can survive under abiotic or biotic stress conditions (more than 300 publications, h-index 95). His current research is focused on how plants can survive under abiotic or biotic stress conditions by identifying and using beneficial microbes of desert plants

Biofertilizers An Effective Tool Toward Sustainability in Arid and Semi-arid Regions

Prof. Abdulhakim Bawadekji, Northern Border University Arar, Saudi Arabia.

Agricultural Engineer, PhD in Agricultural Engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He is a Professor at the University of São Paulo (USP), in the Department of Biosystems Engineering, Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture (ESALQ), in Piracicaba, São Paulo, since 1989, where he coordinates the Precision Agriculture Laboratory. He works at the interface between the area of Agricultural Machinery and Precision Agriculture, especially with crop and soil sensors, spatial variability, yield mapping and site specific application of inputs. He coordinated the Brazilian Congress of Precision Agriculture from its creation in 2004 until 2018

Francelino Rodrigues has been working in precision agriculture and remote sensing since 2004, including in his MSc, PhD and Postdoctoral studies. During his time, he has gained precision agriculture and remote sensing experience in contrasting cropping systems (coffee, sugarcane, cereals) in various countries (Brazil, Australia and Mexico) and at different spatio-temporal scales - from plot experiments towards small and commercial farming systems to regional scale. Before joining Lincoln Agritech in July 2021, he worked for around nine years at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). At CIMMYT he was involved in projects related to maize and wheat high throughput field phenotyping, and precision agriculture and remote sensing techniques applied to crop management at different spatial scales – executing field campaigns in countries in East Africa and South Asia and Mexico

Dr. Essam holds a Bachelor degree in Chemistry from King Saud University, a Master degree in Physical Chemistry from Manchester University in UK and a PhD degree in Thermo-Chemistry from Leeds University in UK.

Dr. Essam is a Research Fellow at SABIC Agri Nutrients Company.  He has been holding the position of Senior Manager for Agri Nutrients Technology & Innovation (T&I) Specialty department since 2016. Prior to this, he has been holding many management positions within SABIC T&I.

Dr Zainab Oyetunde-Usman is a Research Social Scientist with background in agricultural and behavioural economics. She completed her Ph.D. at the Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich and her research interestingly focused on the Impact and behavioural analysis of the adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices among farm households in developing countries using various adoption probabilities, impact, and behavioural analysis techniques. She currently works at the Net-Zero and Resilient Farming Department at Rothamsted Research, UK, contributing to the social advancement of improved techniques for tackling climate issues. Her research aims are tailored to providing evidence-based policy intervention that increases resilience and minimises the farming population's vulnerability

Dato’ Dr Mohamad Zabawi expertise includes soil science (soil conservation), agroecological zonation, climate change, green technology, and water stress physiology. Dato’ Dr Mohamad Zabawi obtained his PhD in Water Stress Physiology and MSc in Tropical Agriculture from The Reading Unversity in 2006 and 1993, and his BSc in Agriculture Science (Major in Soil Physic and Conservation) from Universiti Putra Malaysia in 1988. He is the Chairman of the vulnerability and adaptation of agriculture to climate change for the Third National Communication. He is also a member for Academy of Sciences Malaysia Water and Climate Change Task Force, committee member for Research and Innovation in Green Technology and Climate Change, committee member for Adaptation in Green Technology and Climate Change.

Dr. Mudasir Gani is working as Assistant Professor at Division of Entomology, Faculty of Horticulture, SKUAST-K, Shalimar, Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir, India. He had completed Ph.D. Entomology from Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences & Technology, Jammu, Jammu & Kashmir India and Post-Doc from Institute for Biological Control, Julius Kuhn Institute, Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants, Germany. He has a very good experience on mass rearing techniques of insect parasitoids and predators - their field evaluation and impact assessment; host-pathogen interactions and molecular aspects of entomology. He has guided 07 Masters student’s and co-guided 3 doctoral students in the discipline of Agricultural Entomology. He has published more than 25 research papers in high impact factor journals in the discipline of Entomology in general and insect pathology in particular.

Abdo Hassoun is the founder of Sustainable AgriFoodtech Innovation & Research (SAFIR), a non-profit research organization that works in collaboration with other notable partners to contribute to addressing food sustainability issues and making food healthier and more affordable. He completed his Ph.D. in 2016 in France and carried out his postdoctoral research work at the Norwegian Food Research Institute (Nofima). Dr. Hassoun has also experience from the University of the Littoral Opal Coast in France (ULCO). He has been among the first researchers who have explored the potential of Industry 4.0 and emerging technologies in agriculture and the food industry. He serves as an Editorial Board Member and Guest Editor of several international journals and has contributed to numerous scientific publications.

Emeritus professor, faculty of Agriculture,  professor, Arid Lands Agricultural studies and Research Institute, Ain Shams university

He started his career after graduation from Cairo University, faculty of Agriculture working as assistant researcher in the National Research Center. After being granted the Ph.D. degree, he was appointed as lecturer (Assistant Professor) in the faculty of agriculture, Ain Shams University. His career continued ever since as associate professor, then full professor and head of Horticulture Department, then Emeritus Professor at Ain Shams University till the moment.

Dr. Dinesh Chauhan is the Vice President of Projects and Partnerships at DeHaat, a prominent agri-tech firm in India, serving more than two million farmers. With a remarkable 22-year career in the agriculture and agribusiness sector, Dr. Chauhan has held various high-level positions encompassing academics, consulting, sales, and business development. His expertise spans farm solutions, large-scale modern farming, supply chain management, business development, and structured trade finance.

Dr. Chauhan boasts an impressive educational background with a PhD in Management, an MBA in Agribusiness Management, an MSc in Food Technology, and a BSc in Agriculture and Animal Husbandry.

Dr. Stella Despoudi is Senior Lecturer in Food Supply Chain Management & Logistics at the University of Western Macedonia, in Greece. Prior to this Stella has been working for Aston Business School, Coventry University and for Loughborough University’s School of Business & Economics. She holds a PhD in Food Operations and Supply Chain Management from Loughborough University’s School of Business and Economics. 

Stella’s research expertise lies in the following research areas: Circular food supply chains, supply chain resilience, industry 5.0, honey supply chain, food waste and food sustainability. Currently she works on multi-partner projects related to food supply chain resilience, climatic changes, and Industry 5.0. She also works as food supply chain consultant and she is co-owner of a honey processing company called Melizin

Adil Abdelnour is an interdisciplinary scientist and advisor; he works on issues related to water management and environmental policy, specially focused on how to mainstream sustainable agricultural development concepts and applications as related to judicious use of natural resource, sustainable food systems and development of non-conventional water resources.

Dr. Abdelnour works in Saudi Arabia as a consultant at ministry of municipalities, Qassim University and lastly as a technical advisor for the National Research and Development Center (Estidamah). He had been working for some international organizations and private sector companies. His professional interests include environmental policies for sustainable water management, policy research and institutional capacity development for transformation to sustainable management of natural resources. His current interests revolve around water – waste – energy – food nexus.

Dr. Abdelnour delivers many presentations and offer lectures in areas of environmental impacts of unsustainable agricultural practices of Saudi agri-food system, how to shift from resource sufficiency to resource efficiency.

Dr. Abdallah Soubhy Ali is currently an Associate professor of Microbiology at Cairo University in Egypt and a scientific team leader at Anhui University of Technology in China. He earned his Bachelor of Biotechnology at Cairo University, Egypt, in 2001, and his M.Sc. in Environmental Microbiology at the same University, in 2007 and his PhD in Microbial Biotechnology from the Technical University of Munich, Germany in 2015. In his thesis work he pioneered the biorefinery and bioconversion of lignocellulosic material to produce high-valuable products and by-products and applied this to study on different agricultural and agro-industrial wastes to get the maximum benefits form these residues with zero waste processes.

Dr. Kakoli Ghosh works for the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and specializes in sustainable agriculture, agrobiodiversity and food security. She is the Chief Technical Adviser, Sustainable Rural Agriculture Development Program of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where FAO is providing technical and advisory assistance for strengthening agricultural productivity, natural resource management and value addition of commodities for rural development. Dr. Ghosh has extensive experience in dealing with issues and challenges facing agriculture development around the world. Throughout her career, she was based in the FAO Headquarters in Rome, where she held a range of important positions in Plant Production and Protection Division, Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, FAO’s Strategic Program on Sustainable Food and Agriculture and Partnerships and Cooperation Division.

Cecilia Stanghellini, an Italian physicist with a Dutch PhD in Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, has been working at Wageningen University and Research Centre (the Netherlands) for more than 30 years, on the resource use and management of greenhouses in wet and dry climates. Major topics are: greenhouse climate simulation and management; crop yield and resource use efficiency; economy and environmental impact of greenhouse crops. She is [co]author of more than 300 publications including a recent textbook on greenhouse technology.

She has lead several large international projects, financed by the European Union, governments and large companies in Europe, Latin America, and Africa on the topic of efficient greenhouse vegetable production and capacity building.

Prof. Dr. Nazim Gruda, University of Bonn, Germany, is a globally renowned authority in horticulture. He is Vice-Chair of the Division of Vegetables, Roots, and Tubers within the International Society for Horticultural Science. For his outstanding work, he received the "Dr Heinrich-Baur-Prize", from the Technical University of Munich and the "National Scientific Prize" from the Academy of Science of Albania. His influential research places him in the top 2% of global scientists, according to Stanford University. He is a member, an Honorary Member, and a Correspondent of three European Academies, and a "Distinguished Scientist" of the Academy of Science of China.

Prof. Abdullah is currently a Professor of Horticulture in the Department of Plant Production, College of Food and Agricultural Sciences at King Saud University.  He earned his BSc. From King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia with first degree honor, MSc. Degree from the University of California, Davis, CA, USA and PhD degree from Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA.

 His Professional Experience extend to administrative and academic fields. He is currently a representative of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the Council of the International Society for Horticultural Sciences. He is also amember of the judging committee for the National Olympiad for Scientific Creativity in King Abdulaziz and his Companions for Giftedness and Creativity.  He was a board member of the National Center for the Research and Development in Sustainable Agriculture (ISTIDAMAH). He was the founder dean of the College of Scientific and Humanitarian Studies in Alghat City, Almajmaa University.   He was a consultant in the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture.  He served as a Chairman of the Department of Plant Production,  President, Saudi Society for Agricultural Sciences, Board member of the Saudi Biological Society. Deputy Dean and Dean of the College of Food and Agricultural Sciences and Director of the Agricultural Research and Experiment Station.  He earned Al-Marai Prize for Scientific Innovation / Creative Work in Plant   Production from AlMarai Agricultural Company and King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology.  He also had the award for outstanding research publication at King Saud University and outstanding reviewer award from King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology.

He has published more than 110 Arabic and English articles and authored or translated 12 books or book chapters.  He conducted more than 12 research projects and currently working in 3 projects.  He supervised and co- supervised 32 MsC and PhD students in King Saud university and local and international universities.  His main research interests are protected environment agriculture, environmental stress physiology and use of sustainable and renewable energy in food production.

Dr. Jung Eek Son is a professor emeritus and senior researcher at Seoul National University, Republic of Korea. He works for greenhouse horticulture, vertical farm, and smart farming, particularly on recycled soilless culture, canopy photosynthesis modelling, supplemental inter-lighting, light use efficiency, AI and 3D plant modeling. He published about 230 scientific papers and books; and received academic achievement awards and government-level honors. He served presidents of Korean Societies of Horticultural Science, Bio-environmental control, Vertical Farm Research & Industry, and a WG chair of Integrated Production System (ISHS). He was a convener of GreenSys2013 and is a co-convener of LightSym2024 (Korea).

(Affiliation)

Professor emeritus in Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Bioresources and Senior researcher in Research Institute of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Seoul National University, Korea.

Muien Qaryouti has obtained his PhD, 2001, from the Jordan University, in horticulture science.

He started his career as a researcher at the National Agricultural Research Centre since 1992, Amman.

He became a Director for the Irrigated Agriculture Research Program during 2004- 2012, and the Director of Horticultural Research between 2012-2016. Qaryouti continued his career as a Director General Assistant for Research, 2016- 2017, and Deputy Director General.

Besides, he was a member and coordinator of the FAO Regional Working Group on Greenhouse Crop Production in the Mediterranean Region, 2006-2012. Member of the international Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS).

Currently, Qaryouti joined NATIONAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER FOR SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE (ESTIDAMAH) since 2018.

He is expertise is in crop management in protected agriculture, application of different growing media, resilience abiotic stresses, marketing management and international cooperation. 

Professor of Water Resources at the regional Arabian Gulf University (AGU), Bahrain. He serves as the coordinator of the Water Resources Management Graduate Program and the coordinator of the UN Water Learning Center for the Arab Region hosted by the AGU, and serves as a member of the Permanent Advisory Committee of the Water Resources Council in the Kingdom of Bahrain. He obtained his PhD from Colorado State University in 1990 in the field of groundwater systems mathematical modeling. He teaches graduate courses in Hydrogeology and Water Resources Development, Management and Planning in Arid Regions; has published more than 100 research papers in peer-reviewed journals, book chapters, conferences, and seminars;, and supervised more than 45 MSc and PhD theses

Prof. Mohamed Ouessar has a doctorate in Applied Biological Sciences (Land management) from the University of Ghent in Belgium. He is currently a senior researcher at the Arid Zone Research Institute (Tunisia).

He has contributed actively to the realization of numerous joint research projects funded by national and international agencies. His research programs focused mainly on water harvesting, GIS based hydrological modeling and decision support systems, impact assessment, watershed management, climate change impacts and adaptation, combating desertification and drylands management.

He contributed also to the training and capacity building through supervision of trainees and students of all levels from national and international centers and organizations and universities

H.E Dr. Abdulaziz Almalik ,Deputy minister for research and innovation for the Ministry for Environment Water and Agriculture, Saudi Arabia

Abdulaziz Almalik is the deputy minister for research and innovation at the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture of Saudi Arabia. Prior to joining MEWA, he served as vice-president for scientific research support, vice-president for innovation and technology commercialisation, director of the Life Sciences and Environmental Research Institute, vice-chair of the Scientific Council, and professor of pharmaceutical sciences at King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (2015-23). He was also a senior adviser to the governor and a founding member of the founding team of the Research, Development and Innovation Authority. He has extensive experience in developing and managing national-scale RDI initiatives backed by knowledge of intellectual property generation, acquisition, management and strong academic credentials.

 EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS: 

• PhD in International Agricultural Development from Tokyo University of Agriculture. Japan. 
• Master of Science Diploma in Plant Breeding from the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies- Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Saragossa (CIHEAM-IAMZ). Spain. 
• Diploma of Specialized Post-Graduate Studies in Plant Breeding from International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies- Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Saragossa. (CIHEAM-IAMZ). Spain. 
• Agricultural Engineer Diploma from Hassan II Institute of Agronomy and Veterinary Medicine (IAV Hassan II). Rabat. Morocco 

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE 

• Chief of Farming at Al Madinah Heritage Company. (2023-Now)
• Agricultural Expert at the National Center for Palms & Dates. Riyadh. (2022-2023) 
• R&D and Projects Manager at Yousef Abdul Latif and Sons Agriculture (YALA). Yousef Abdul Latif Jameel Group (YALJ Group). Saudi Arabia and Quality Manager at ASYLA Gum Co Ltd. Senegal (Feb 2020-2022). 
• R&D, Organic project and Quality Manager at Yousef Abdul Latif and Sons Agriculture (YALA). Saudi Arabia (June 2019-Feb 2020) and Quality Manager at ASYLA Gum Co Ltd. Senegal. Yousef Abdul Latif Jameel Group (YALJ Group) (Feb 2020-Now) • R&D Manager. Yousef Abdul Latif and Sons Agriculture (YALA). Yousef Abdul Latif Jameel Group (YALJ Group). Saudi Arabia (2010- June 2019) 
• Visiting Professor at the Faculty of Sciences and Techniques (FST)-University of Kadi Ayyad. Beni Mellal. Morocco (2002-2010) 
• Research scientist at the Biotechnology Unit, Laboratory of Molecular Biology, INRA (National Institute of Agronomic Research). Morocco. Rabat (2008-2010) 
• Manager of the Department of Technical Education, Vocational Training, Research and Development at the Regional Directorate of Agriculture in Tadla. Morocco (2008-2010) 
• Manager of the Regional Department of Certification of Seed and Nurseries. Beni Mellal. Morocco (2000-2008) 
• Controller of seeds and nurseries at the Regional Department of Certification of Seed and Nurseries. Beni Mellal. Morocco (1997-2000) 
• Farm Manager of Haddawi Farms. Larache. Morocco. (1995-1997) 

Woody possesses over 16 years of experience in designing and implementing collaborations in both private and public sector in the areas of outcome-driven transformation, strategic advisory, delivery unit design and activation.

His experience covers organizations in various countries in SE Asia, Middle East, and Africa, and he has previously advised Ministers on National Level initiatives in these countries. 

In NEOM Food, Woody is responsible for building and maintaining synergistic strategic initiatives with key public sector partners, stakeholders, and other entities within the food ecosystem in NEOM and KSA, particularly in the areas of regulations, innovation, research and talent pipeline development."

PhD from Auburn University, Alabama, 2016.

He held a number of administrative positions at King Faisal University and represented the university in the National Dialogue Workshop for Sustainable Food Systems in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as well as in a workshop for the G20 meeting entitled: Water, Energy and Food. In addition to a number of international conferences, he also worked in a number of committees within the university and at the Kingdom level, and is Chairman of the Scientific Committee of the International Conference on Food Security and Environmental Sustainability. He currently works as an associate professor at King Faisal University and holds the position of Dean of the College of Agricultural and Food Sciences since 2019.

Salim Al-Babili received his PhD from the University Freiburg, Germany. After his PhD, he obtained a Rockefeller Post-Doc fellowship to work on developing “Golden Rice” in the lab of Peter Beyer and in collaboration with Ingo Potrykus. In 2007, he received his Habilitation in Cell Biology at the University of Freiburg and is currently Professor for Plant Scince and Bioengineering at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), and Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs. The general objective of his research group, the BioActives lab, is to improve the performance and nutritional value of crops by genetic engineering or through application of growth regulators. His group combines enzymology-based, metabolomics and genetic approaches to elucidate metabolic networks and identify new signaling molecules related to abiotic/biotic stress and plant development, with focus on carotenoid and apocarotenoids. Salim Al-Babili has made essential contributions to engineering crops with enhanced pro-vitamin A content and to elucidating carotenoid/apocarotenoid metabolism in plants and microorganisms. His work on retinal biosynthesis in cyanobcateria led to the first structure elucidation of a carotenoid cleavage oxygenase. Through the discovery of carlactone, his research deciphered the core-pathway in the biosynthesis of the carotenoid-derived plant hormone strigolactone. In the last years, he has been focusing on the identification and biology of novel apocarotenoid growth regulators, which revealed the regulatory metabolite anchorene, and the hormone-candidate zaxinone and an epoxidase-independent route for abscisic acid biosynthesis. Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and KAUST, he is currently heading an international consortium to combat the root parasitic plant Striga hermonthica, a major threat to global food security, in sub-Saharan Africa, by using hormone-based approaches based on his basic research. He has several patents and more than 150 peer reviewed papers.

Prof. Salah El-Hendawy obtained his PhD from the Department of Plant Sciences at the Technical University of Munich, Germany in 2004. He has held various faculty positions in the Agronomy Department at the Faculty of Agriculture at Suez Canal University from Demonstrator to Professor. He was awarded a postdoctoral scholarship from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) in 2007 and the Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS) in 2009. Seconded to work as a professor in the Department of Plant Production at the College of Food and Agricultural Sciences - King Saud University in 2012 until now. He has published over 100 research articles in international scientific journals indexed in Q1 and Q2. He has been recognized among the top 2% of scientists worldwide for 2021 and 2022. His research focuses on enhancing irrigation water management and introducing innovative approaches to maximize irrigation water use for field crops in arid and semiarid conditions. Recent efforts have focused on non-destructive methods to accurately assess important traits of drought- and salt-affected genotypes under field conditions (Precision Phenotyping).

Independent consultant & former director of, the Water, Land, and Ecosystems Program, the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA). Formerly, a distinguished professor of agricultural water management at Tottori University in Japan. Since 1991, worked for ICARDA as director, scientist, and research manager. Earlier, worked for the University of Jordan, as an assistant prof. in irrigation and drainage engineering. Received BSc. degree in agriculture and MSc and Ph.D. in irrigation engineering from Utah State University, Utah, USA. Has over 40 years of experience and leadership in international research and development, capacity building, and agricultural water management. Worked in over 80 countries on implementing projects, training, and mobilizing funds for agricultural water management projects in developing countries. Author of 86 refereed journal publications, 13 books, 34 book chapters, and over 200 proceedings, reports, and awareness publications in the areas of water use efficiency, supplemental irrigation, water harvesting, water productivity, deficit irrigation, salinity, and the management of scarce water resources. Reviewer and member of editorial boards of several refereed journals.

Dr. Pierre Broun is Director of Climate-Resilient Agriculture at NEOM, overseeing the development of sustainable, innovative and profitable farming systems to support food self-sufficiency at NEOM and food security for the country. 

Before joining NEOM, Dr. Broun held executive positions in the food industry to ensure sustainable agricultural supply, leading plant science and technology in large agri-food companies, including over 10 years as head of plant science at Nestlé. 

Dr. Broun started his career in biotechnology, both in industry and academia. 

He holds a PhD in plant breeding and biometry from Cornell University.

Ismail Cakmak earned his PhD at the University Hohenheim in Stuttgart, Germany, and full Professor at the Sabanci University, Istanbul, Turkey. Published over 240-peer-reviewed articles, named among the “highly cited researchers” by Clarivate Analytics (Thomson Reuters) and ranked   in the top 0.05 % of most influential scientists in all scientific disciplines in 2022 by Stanford University, based on Elsevier’s Scopus Database.

He has received IFA “International Crop Nutrition Award in 2005, Australian Crawford Fund “Derek Tribe Medal” in 2007, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation-Georg Forster Research Award in 2014, International Plant Nutrition Institute-IPNI Science Prize in 2016 and the World Academy of Sciences-Agricultural Science Prize in 2016.  He is an elected member of “The Academia Europaea” and “The Science Academy” of Turkey.

Joined International Centre for Bio-Saline Agriculture (ICBA), Dubai as Program Leader/section head of the Crop Diversity and Genetics group on 15th Nov 2018 after long stint in rice crop for abiotic stresses. Currently leading the specialized group working on use of suitable cropping solutions for very harsh marginal environments (salty water and soil, drought and high temperature) which is going to be much worsened in future due to climate change. Our major focus in middle east and north Africa (MENA), Central Asia and sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), besides recent outreach to S and SE Asia as well.

Ali Al Lawati is a scientist in the field of Plant Genetic Resources and crop improvement. Currently, Al Lawati is Assistant Professor in Plant Genetics and Biotechnology in the University of Nizwa. Current, research activity is on the medicinal plants’ conservation and characterization. In addition, Al Lawati is managing the Seed genebank a collaborative project between Oman Animal and Plant Genetic Resources Center and the University of Nizwa.

Al Lawati had BSc. (1990) and MSc. (1998) in Plant Sciences and Environment Sciences, respectively, from Sultan Qaboos University, Oman. he had a Ph.D. (2006) in Agronomy (Plant Breeding and Genetics) and minor in Experimental Statistics from New Mexico State University, U.S.A.

Hirt studied biochemistry at the Univ. of Cape Town and Vienna where he received his PhD in 1987. After post-doctoral fellowships at the Univ. of Oxford and Wageningen, he became Professor of Genetics at the Univ. of Vienna. In 2007, he was nominated Director of the INRAe Plant Genomics Institute in Paris and of the Center for Desert Agriculture at KAUST in 2014. Hirt has a long standing record on how plants can survive under abiotic or biotic stress conditions (more than 300 publications, h-index 95). His current research is focused on how plants can survive under abiotic or biotic stress conditions by identifying and using beneficial microbes of desert plants

Biofertilizers An Effective Tool Toward Sustainability in Arid and Semi-arid Regions

Prof. Abdulhakim Bawadekji, Northern Border University Arar, Saudi Arabia.

Agricultural Engineer, PhD in Agricultural Engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He is a Professor at the University of São Paulo (USP), in the Department of Biosystems Engineering, Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture (ESALQ), in Piracicaba, São Paulo, since 1989, where he coordinates the Precision Agriculture Laboratory. He works at the interface between the area of Agricultural Machinery and Precision Agriculture, especially with crop and soil sensors, spatial variability, yield mapping and site specific application of inputs. He coordinated the Brazilian Congress of Precision Agriculture from its creation in 2004 until 2018

Francelino Rodrigues has been working in precision agriculture and remote sensing since 2004, including in his MSc, PhD and Postdoctoral studies. During his time, he has gained precision agriculture and remote sensing experience in contrasting cropping systems (coffee, sugarcane, cereals) in various countries (Brazil, Australia and Mexico) and at different spatio-temporal scales - from plot experiments towards small and commercial farming systems to regional scale. Before joining Lincoln Agritech in July 2021, he worked for around nine years at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). At CIMMYT he was involved in projects related to maize and wheat high throughput field phenotyping, and precision agriculture and remote sensing techniques applied to crop management at different spatial scales – executing field campaigns in countries in East Africa and South Asia and Mexico

Dr. Essam holds a Bachelor degree in Chemistry from King Saud University, a Master degree in Physical Chemistry from Manchester University in UK and a PhD degree in Thermo-Chemistry from Leeds University in UK.

Dr. Essam is a Research Fellow at SABIC Agri Nutrients Company.  He has been holding the position of Senior Manager for Agri Nutrients Technology & Innovation (T&I) Specialty department since 2016. Prior to this, he has been holding many management positions within SABIC T&I.

Dr Zainab Oyetunde-Usman is a Research Social Scientist with background in agricultural and behavioural economics. She completed her Ph.D. at the Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich and her research interestingly focused on the Impact and behavioural analysis of the adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices among farm households in developing countries using various adoption probabilities, impact, and behavioural analysis techniques. She currently works at the Net-Zero and Resilient Farming Department at Rothamsted Research, UK, contributing to the social advancement of improved techniques for tackling climate issues. Her research aims are tailored to providing evidence-based policy intervention that increases resilience and minimises the farming population's vulnerability

Dato’ Dr Mohamad Zabawi expertise includes soil science (soil conservation), agroecological zonation, climate change, green technology, and water stress physiology. Dato’ Dr Mohamad Zabawi obtained his PhD in Water Stress Physiology and MSc in Tropical Agriculture from The Reading Unversity in 2006 and 1993, and his BSc in Agriculture Science (Major in Soil Physic and Conservation) from Universiti Putra Malaysia in 1988. He is the Chairman of the vulnerability and adaptation of agriculture to climate change for the Third National Communication. He is also a member for Academy of Sciences Malaysia Water and Climate Change Task Force, committee member for Research and Innovation in Green Technology and Climate Change, committee member for Adaptation in Green Technology and Climate Change.

Dr. Mudasir Gani is working as Assistant Professor at Division of Entomology, Faculty of Horticulture, SKUAST-K, Shalimar, Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir, India. He had completed Ph.D. Entomology from Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences & Technology, Jammu, Jammu & Kashmir India and Post-Doc from Institute for Biological Control, Julius Kuhn Institute, Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants, Germany. He has a very good experience on mass rearing techniques of insect parasitoids and predators - their field evaluation and impact assessment; host-pathogen interactions and molecular aspects of entomology. He has guided 07 Masters student’s and co-guided 3 doctoral students in the discipline of Agricultural Entomology. He has published more than 25 research papers in high impact factor journals in the discipline of Entomology in general and insect pathology in particular.

Abdo Hassoun is the founder of Sustainable AgriFoodtech Innovation & Research (SAFIR), a non-profit research organization that works in collaboration with other notable partners to contribute to addressing food sustainability issues and making food healthier and more affordable. He completed his Ph.D. in 2016 in France and carried out his postdoctoral research work at the Norwegian Food Research Institute (Nofima). Dr. Hassoun has also experience from the University of the Littoral Opal Coast in France (ULCO). He has been among the first researchers who have explored the potential of Industry 4.0 and emerging technologies in agriculture and the food industry. He serves as an Editorial Board Member and Guest Editor of several international journals and has contributed to numerous scientific publications.

Emeritus professor, faculty of Agriculture,  professor, Arid Lands Agricultural studies and Research Institute, Ain Shams university

He started his career after graduation from Cairo University, faculty of Agriculture working as assistant researcher in the National Research Center. After being granted the Ph.D. degree, he was appointed as lecturer (Assistant Professor) in the faculty of agriculture, Ain Shams University. His career continued ever since as associate professor, then full professor and head of Horticulture Department, then Emeritus Professor at Ain Shams University till the moment.

Dr. Dinesh Chauhan is the Vice President of Projects and Partnerships at DeHaat, a prominent agri-tech firm in India, serving more than two million farmers. With a remarkable 22-year career in the agriculture and agribusiness sector, Dr. Chauhan has held various high-level positions encompassing academics, consulting, sales, and business development. His expertise spans farm solutions, large-scale modern farming, supply chain management, business development, and structured trade finance.

Dr. Chauhan boasts an impressive educational background with a PhD in Management, an MBA in Agribusiness Management, an MSc in Food Technology, and a BSc in Agriculture and Animal Husbandry.

Dr. Stella Despoudi is Senior Lecturer in Food Supply Chain Management & Logistics at the University of Western Macedonia, in Greece. Prior to this Stella has been working for Aston Business School, Coventry University and for Loughborough University’s School of Business & Economics. She holds a PhD in Food Operations and Supply Chain Management from Loughborough University’s School of Business and Economics. 

Stella’s research expertise lies in the following research areas: Circular food supply chains, supply chain resilience, industry 5.0, honey supply chain, food waste and food sustainability. Currently she works on multi-partner projects related to food supply chain resilience, climatic changes, and Industry 5.0. She also works as food supply chain consultant and she is co-owner of a honey processing company called Melizin

Adil Abdelnour is an interdisciplinary scientist and advisor; he works on issues related to water management and environmental policy, specially focused on how to mainstream sustainable agricultural development concepts and applications as related to judicious use of natural resource, sustainable food systems and development of non-conventional water resources.

Dr. Abdelnour works in Saudi Arabia as a consultant at ministry of municipalities, Qassim University and lastly as a technical advisor for the National Research and Development Center (Estidamah). He had been working for some international organizations and private sector companies. His professional interests include environmental policies for sustainable water management, policy research and institutional capacity development for transformation to sustainable management of natural resources. His current interests revolve around water – waste – energy – food nexus.

Dr. Abdelnour delivers many presentations and offer lectures in areas of environmental impacts of unsustainable agricultural practices of Saudi agri-food system, how to shift from resource sufficiency to resource efficiency.

Dr. Abdallah Soubhy Ali is currently an Associate professor of Microbiology at Cairo University in Egypt and a scientific team leader at Anhui University of Technology in China. He earned his Bachelor of Biotechnology at Cairo University, Egypt, in 2001, and his M.Sc. in Environmental Microbiology at the same University, in 2007 and his PhD in Microbial Biotechnology from the Technical University of Munich, Germany in 2015. In his thesis work he pioneered the biorefinery and bioconversion of lignocellulosic material to produce high-valuable products and by-products and applied this to study on different agricultural and agro-industrial wastes to get the maximum benefits form these residues with zero waste processes.

Dr. Kakoli Ghosh works for the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and specializes in sustainable agriculture, agrobiodiversity and food security. She is the Chief Technical Adviser, Sustainable Rural Agriculture Development Program of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where FAO is providing technical and advisory assistance for strengthening agricultural productivity, natural resource management and value addition of commodities for rural development. Dr. Ghosh has extensive experience in dealing with issues and challenges facing agriculture development around the world. Throughout her career, she was based in the FAO Headquarters in Rome, where she held a range of important positions in Plant Production and Protection Division, Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, FAO’s Strategic Program on Sustainable Food and Agriculture and Partnerships and Cooperation Division.

Cecilia Stanghellini, an Italian physicist with a Dutch PhD in Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, has been working at Wageningen University and Research Centre (the Netherlands) for more than 30 years, on the resource use and management of greenhouses in wet and dry climates. Major topics are: greenhouse climate simulation and management; crop yield and resource use efficiency; economy and environmental impact of greenhouse crops. She is [co]author of more than 300 publications including a recent textbook on greenhouse technology.

She has lead several large international projects, financed by the European Union, governments and large companies in Europe, Latin America, and Africa on the topic of efficient greenhouse vegetable production and capacity building.

Prof. Dr. Nazim Gruda, University of Bonn, Germany, is a globally renowned authority in horticulture. He is Vice-Chair of the Division of Vegetables, Roots, and Tubers within the International Society for Horticultural Science. For his outstanding work, he received the "Dr Heinrich-Baur-Prize", from the Technical University of Munich and the "National Scientific Prize" from the Academy of Science of Albania. His influential research places him in the top 2% of global scientists, according to Stanford University. He is a member, an Honorary Member, and a Correspondent of three European Academies, and a "Distinguished Scientist" of the Academy of Science of China.

Prof. Abdullah is currently a Professor of Horticulture in the Department of Plant Production, College of Food and Agricultural Sciences at King Saud University.  He earned his BSc. From King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia with first degree honor, MSc. Degree from the University of California, Davis, CA, USA and PhD degree from Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA.

 His Professional Experience extend to administrative and academic fields. He is currently a representative of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the Council of the International Society for Horticultural Sciences. He is also amember of the judging committee for the National Olympiad for Scientific Creativity in King Abdulaziz and his Companions for Giftedness and Creativity.  He was a board member of the National Center for the Research and Development in Sustainable Agriculture (ISTIDAMAH). He was the founder dean of the College of Scientific and Humanitarian Studies in Alghat City, Almajmaa University.   He was a consultant in the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture.  He served as a Chairman of the Department of Plant Production,  President, Saudi Society for Agricultural Sciences, Board member of the Saudi Biological Society. Deputy Dean and Dean of the College of Food and Agricultural Sciences and Director of the Agricultural Research and Experiment Station.  He earned Al-Marai Prize for Scientific Innovation / Creative Work in Plant   Production from AlMarai Agricultural Company and King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology.  He also had the award for outstanding research publication at King Saud University and outstanding reviewer award from King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology.

He has published more than 110 Arabic and English articles and authored or translated 12 books or book chapters.  He conducted more than 12 research projects and currently working in 3 projects.  He supervised and co- supervised 32 MsC and PhD students in King Saud university and local and international universities.  His main research interests are protected environment agriculture, environmental stress physiology and use of sustainable and renewable energy in food production.

Dr. Jung Eek Son is a professor emeritus and senior researcher at Seoul National University, Republic of Korea. He works for greenhouse horticulture, vertical farm, and smart farming, particularly on recycled soilless culture, canopy photosynthesis modelling, supplemental inter-lighting, light use efficiency, AI and 3D plant modeling. He published about 230 scientific papers and books; and received academic achievement awards and government-level honors. He served presidents of Korean Societies of Horticultural Science, Bio-environmental control, Vertical Farm Research & Industry, and a WG chair of Integrated Production System (ISHS). He was a convener of GreenSys2013 and is a co-convener of LightSym2024 (Korea).

(Affiliation)

Professor emeritus in Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Bioresources and Senior researcher in Research Institute of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Seoul National University, Korea.

Muien Qaryouti has obtained his PhD, 2001, from the Jordan University, in horticulture science.

He started his career as a researcher at the National Agricultural Research Centre since 1992, Amman.

He became a Director for the Irrigated Agriculture Research Program during 2004- 2012, and the Director of Horticultural Research between 2012-2016. Qaryouti continued his career as a Director General Assistant for Research, 2016- 2017, and Deputy Director General.

Besides, he was a member and coordinator of the FAO Regional Working Group on Greenhouse Crop Production in the Mediterranean Region, 2006-2012. Member of the international Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS).

Currently, Qaryouti joined NATIONAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER FOR SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE (ESTIDAMAH) since 2018.

He is expertise is in crop management in protected agriculture, application of different growing media, resilience abiotic stresses, marketing management and international cooperation. 

Professor of Water Resources at the regional Arabian Gulf University (AGU), Bahrain. He serves as the coordinator of the Water Resources Management Graduate Program and the coordinator of the UN Water Learning Center for the Arab Region hosted by the AGU, and serves as a member of the Permanent Advisory Committee of the Water Resources Council in the Kingdom of Bahrain. He obtained his PhD from Colorado State University in 1990 in the field of groundwater systems mathematical modeling. He teaches graduate courses in Hydrogeology and Water Resources Development, Management and Planning in Arid Regions; has published more than 100 research papers in peer-reviewed journals, book chapters, conferences, and seminars;, and supervised more than 45 MSc and PhD theses

Prof. Mohamed Ouessar has a doctorate in Applied Biological Sciences (Land management) from the University of Ghent in Belgium. He is currently a senior researcher at the Arid Zone Research Institute (Tunisia).

He has contributed actively to the realization of numerous joint research projects funded by national and international agencies. His research programs focused mainly on water harvesting, GIS based hydrological modeling and decision support systems, impact assessment, watershed management, climate change impacts and adaptation, combating desertification and drylands management.

He contributed also to the training and capacity building through supervision of trainees and students of all levels from national and international centers and organizations and universities

H.E Dr. Abdulaziz Almalik ,Deputy minister for research and innovation for the Ministry for Environment Water and Agriculture, Saudi Arabia

Abdulaziz Almalik is the deputy minister for research and innovation at the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture of Saudi Arabia. Prior to joining MEWA, he served as vice-president for scientific research support, vice-president for innovation and technology commercialisation, director of the Life Sciences and Environmental Research Institute, vice-chair of the Scientific Council, and professor of pharmaceutical sciences at King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (2015-23). He was also a senior adviser to the governor and a founding member of the founding team of the Research, Development and Innovation Authority. He has extensive experience in developing and managing national-scale RDI initiatives backed by knowledge of intellectual property generation, acquisition, management and strong academic credentials.

 EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS: 

• PhD in International Agricultural Development from Tokyo University of Agriculture. Japan. 
• Master of Science Diploma in Plant Breeding from the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies- Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Saragossa (CIHEAM-IAMZ). Spain. 
• Diploma of Specialized Post-Graduate Studies in Plant Breeding from International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies- Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Saragossa. (CIHEAM-IAMZ). Spain. 
• Agricultural Engineer Diploma from Hassan II Institute of Agronomy and Veterinary Medicine (IAV Hassan II). Rabat. Morocco 

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE 

• Chief of Farming at Al Madinah Heritage Company. (2023-Now)
• Agricultural Expert at the National Center for Palms & Dates. Riyadh. (2022-2023) 
• R&D and Projects Manager at Yousef Abdul Latif and Sons Agriculture (YALA). Yousef Abdul Latif Jameel Group (YALJ Group). Saudi Arabia and Quality Manager at ASYLA Gum Co Ltd. Senegal (Feb 2020-2022). 
• R&D, Organic project and Quality Manager at Yousef Abdul Latif and Sons Agriculture (YALA). Saudi Arabia (June 2019-Feb 2020) and Quality Manager at ASYLA Gum Co Ltd. Senegal. Yousef Abdul Latif Jameel Group (YALJ Group) (Feb 2020-Now) • R&D Manager. Yousef Abdul Latif and Sons Agriculture (YALA). Yousef Abdul Latif Jameel Group (YALJ Group). Saudi Arabia (2010- June 2019) 
• Visiting Professor at the Faculty of Sciences and Techniques (FST)-University of Kadi Ayyad. Beni Mellal. Morocco (2002-2010) 
• Research scientist at the Biotechnology Unit, Laboratory of Molecular Biology, INRA (National Institute of Agronomic Research). Morocco. Rabat (2008-2010) 
• Manager of the Department of Technical Education, Vocational Training, Research and Development at the Regional Directorate of Agriculture in Tadla. Morocco (2008-2010) 
• Manager of the Regional Department of Certification of Seed and Nurseries. Beni Mellal. Morocco (2000-2008) 
• Controller of seeds and nurseries at the Regional Department of Certification of Seed and Nurseries. Beni Mellal. Morocco (1997-2000) 
• Farm Manager of Haddawi Farms. Larache. Morocco. (1995-1997) 

Woody possesses over 16 years of experience in designing and implementing collaborations in both private and public sector in the areas of outcome-driven transformation, strategic advisory, delivery unit design and activation.

His experience covers organizations in various countries in SE Asia, Middle East, and Africa, and he has previously advised Ministers on National Level initiatives in these countries. 

In NEOM Food, Woody is responsible for building and maintaining synergistic strategic initiatives with key public sector partners, stakeholders, and other entities within the food ecosystem in NEOM and KSA, particularly in the areas of regulations, innovation, research and talent pipeline development."

PhD from Auburn University, Alabama, 2016.

He held a number of administrative positions at King Faisal University and represented the university in the National Dialogue Workshop for Sustainable Food Systems in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as well as in a workshop for the G20 meeting entitled: Water, Energy and Food. In addition to a number of international conferences, he also worked in a number of committees within the university and at the Kingdom level, and is Chairman of the Scientific Committee of the International Conference on Food Security and Environmental Sustainability. He currently works as an associate professor at King Faisal University and holds the position of Dean of the College of Agricultural and Food Sciences since 2019.

Salim Al-Babili received his PhD from the University Freiburg, Germany. After his PhD, he obtained a Rockefeller Post-Doc fellowship to work on developing “Golden Rice” in the lab of Peter Beyer and in collaboration with Ingo Potrykus. In 2007, he received his Habilitation in Cell Biology at the University of Freiburg and is currently Professor for Plant Scince and Bioengineering at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), and Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs. The general objective of his research group, the BioActives lab, is to improve the performance and nutritional value of crops by genetic engineering or through application of growth regulators. His group combines enzymology-based, metabolomics and genetic approaches to elucidate metabolic networks and identify new signaling molecules related to abiotic/biotic stress and plant development, with focus on carotenoid and apocarotenoids. Salim Al-Babili has made essential contributions to engineering crops with enhanced pro-vitamin A content and to elucidating carotenoid/apocarotenoid metabolism in plants and microorganisms. His work on retinal biosynthesis in cyanobcateria led to the first structure elucidation of a carotenoid cleavage oxygenase. Through the discovery of carlactone, his research deciphered the core-pathway in the biosynthesis of the carotenoid-derived plant hormone strigolactone. In the last years, he has been focusing on the identification and biology of novel apocarotenoid growth regulators, which revealed the regulatory metabolite anchorene, and the hormone-candidate zaxinone and an epoxidase-independent route for abscisic acid biosynthesis. Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and KAUST, he is currently heading an international consortium to combat the root parasitic plant Striga hermonthica, a major threat to global food security, in sub-Saharan Africa, by using hormone-based approaches based on his basic research. He has several patents and more than 150 peer reviewed papers.

Prof. Salah El-Hendawy obtained his PhD from the Department of Plant Sciences at the Technical University of Munich, Germany in 2004. He has held various faculty positions in the Agronomy Department at the Faculty of Agriculture at Suez Canal University from Demonstrator to Professor. He was awarded a postdoctoral scholarship from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) in 2007 and the Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS) in 2009. Seconded to work as a professor in the Department of Plant Production at the College of Food and Agricultural Sciences - King Saud University in 2012 until now. He has published over 100 research articles in international scientific journals indexed in Q1 and Q2. He has been recognized among the top 2% of scientists worldwide for 2021 and 2022. His research focuses on enhancing irrigation water management and introducing innovative approaches to maximize irrigation water use for field crops in arid and semiarid conditions. Recent efforts have focused on non-destructive methods to accurately assess important traits of drought- and salt-affected genotypes under field conditions (Precision Phenotyping).

Independent consultant & former director of, the Water, Land, and Ecosystems Program, the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA). Formerly, a distinguished professor of agricultural water management at Tottori University in Japan. Since 1991, worked for ICARDA as director, scientist, and research manager. Earlier, worked for the University of Jordan, as an assistant prof. in irrigation and drainage engineering. Received BSc. degree in agriculture and MSc and Ph.D. in irrigation engineering from Utah State University, Utah, USA. Has over 40 years of experience and leadership in international research and development, capacity building, and agricultural water management. Worked in over 80 countries on implementing projects, training, and mobilizing funds for agricultural water management projects in developing countries. Author of 86 refereed journal publications, 13 books, 34 book chapters, and over 200 proceedings, reports, and awareness publications in the areas of water use efficiency, supplemental irrigation, water harvesting, water productivity, deficit irrigation, salinity, and the management of scarce water resources. Reviewer and member of editorial boards of several refereed journals.

Dr. Pierre Broun is Director of Climate-Resilient Agriculture at NEOM, overseeing the development of sustainable, innovative and profitable farming systems to support food self-sufficiency at NEOM and food security for the country. 

Before joining NEOM, Dr. Broun held executive positions in the food industry to ensure sustainable agricultural supply, leading plant science and technology in large agri-food companies, including over 10 years as head of plant science at Nestlé. 

Dr. Broun started his career in biotechnology, both in industry and academia. 

He holds a PhD in plant breeding and biometry from Cornell University.

Ismail Cakmak earned his PhD at the University Hohenheim in Stuttgart, Germany, and full Professor at the Sabanci University, Istanbul, Turkey. Published over 240-peer-reviewed articles, named among the “highly cited researchers” by Clarivate Analytics (Thomson Reuters) and ranked   in the top 0.05 % of most influential scientists in all scientific disciplines in 2022 by Stanford University, based on Elsevier’s Scopus Database.

He has received IFA “International Crop Nutrition Award in 2005, Australian Crawford Fund “Derek Tribe Medal” in 2007, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation-Georg Forster Research Award in 2014, International Plant Nutrition Institute-IPNI Science Prize in 2016 and the World Academy of Sciences-Agricultural Science Prize in 2016.  He is an elected member of “The Academia Europaea” and “The Science Academy” of Turkey.

Joined International Centre for Bio-Saline Agriculture (ICBA), Dubai as Program Leader/section head of the Crop Diversity and Genetics group on 15th Nov 2018 after long stint in rice crop for abiotic stresses. Currently leading the specialized group working on use of suitable cropping solutions for very harsh marginal environments (salty water and soil, drought and high temperature) which is going to be much worsened in future due to climate change. Our major focus in middle east and north Africa (MENA), Central Asia and sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), besides recent outreach to S and SE Asia as well.

Ali Al Lawati is a scientist in the field of Plant Genetic Resources and crop improvement. Currently, Al Lawati is Assistant Professor in Plant Genetics and Biotechnology in the University of Nizwa. Current, research activity is on the medicinal plants’ conservation and characterization. In addition, Al Lawati is managing the Seed genebank a collaborative project between Oman Animal and Plant Genetic Resources Center and the University of Nizwa.

Al Lawati had BSc. (1990) and MSc. (1998) in Plant Sciences and Environment Sciences, respectively, from Sultan Qaboos University, Oman. he had a Ph.D. (2006) in Agronomy (Plant Breeding and Genetics) and minor in Experimental Statistics from New Mexico State University, U.S.A.

Hirt studied biochemistry at the Univ. of Cape Town and Vienna where he received his PhD in 1987. After post-doctoral fellowships at the Univ. of Oxford and Wageningen, he became Professor of Genetics at the Univ. of Vienna. In 2007, he was nominated Director of the INRAe Plant Genomics Institute in Paris and of the Center for Desert Agriculture at KAUST in 2014. Hirt has a long standing record on how plants can survive under abiotic or biotic stress conditions (more than 300 publications, h-index 95). His current research is focused on how plants can survive under abiotic or biotic stress conditions by identifying and using beneficial microbes of desert plants

Biofertilizers An Effective Tool Toward Sustainability in Arid and Semi-arid Regions

Prof. Abdulhakim Bawadekji, Northern Border University Arar, Saudi Arabia.

Agricultural Engineer, PhD in Agricultural Engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He is a Professor at the University of São Paulo (USP), in the Department of Biosystems Engineering, Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture (ESALQ), in Piracicaba, São Paulo, since 1989, where he coordinates the Precision Agriculture Laboratory. He works at the interface between the area of Agricultural Machinery and Precision Agriculture, especially with crop and soil sensors, spatial variability, yield mapping and site specific application of inputs. He coordinated the Brazilian Congress of Precision Agriculture from its creation in 2004 until 2018

Francelino Rodrigues has been working in precision agriculture and remote sensing since 2004, including in his MSc, PhD and Postdoctoral studies. During his time, he has gained precision agriculture and remote sensing experience in contrasting cropping systems (coffee, sugarcane, cereals) in various countries (Brazil, Australia and Mexico) and at different spatio-temporal scales - from plot experiments towards small and commercial farming systems to regional scale. Before joining Lincoln Agritech in July 2021, he worked for around nine years at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). At CIMMYT he was involved in projects related to maize and wheat high throughput field phenotyping, and precision agriculture and remote sensing techniques applied to crop management at different spatial scales – executing field campaigns in countries in East Africa and South Asia and Mexico

Dr. Essam holds a Bachelor degree in Chemistry from King Saud University, a Master degree in Physical Chemistry from Manchester University in UK and a PhD degree in Thermo-Chemistry from Leeds University in UK.

Dr. Essam is a Research Fellow at SABIC Agri Nutrients Company.  He has been holding the position of Senior Manager for Agri Nutrients Technology & Innovation (T&I) Specialty department since 2016. Prior to this, he has been holding many management positions within SABIC T&I.

Dr Zainab Oyetunde-Usman is a Research Social Scientist with background in agricultural and behavioural economics. She completed her Ph.D. at the Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich and her research interestingly focused on the Impact and behavioural analysis of the adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices among farm households in developing countries using various adoption probabilities, impact, and behavioural analysis techniques. She currently works at the Net-Zero and Resilient Farming Department at Rothamsted Research, UK, contributing to the social advancement of improved techniques for tackling climate issues. Her research aims are tailored to providing evidence-based policy intervention that increases resilience and minimises the farming population's vulnerability

Dato’ Dr Mohamad Zabawi expertise includes soil science (soil conservation), agroecological zonation, climate change, green technology, and water stress physiology. Dato’ Dr Mohamad Zabawi obtained his PhD in Water Stress Physiology and MSc in Tropical Agriculture from The Reading Unversity in 2006 and 1993, and his BSc in Agriculture Science (Major in Soil Physic and Conservation) from Universiti Putra Malaysia in 1988. He is the Chairman of the vulnerability and adaptation of agriculture to climate change for the Third National Communication. He is also a member for Academy of Sciences Malaysia Water and Climate Change Task Force, committee member for Research and Innovation in Green Technology and Climate Change, committee member for Adaptation in Green Technology and Climate Change.

Dr. Mudasir Gani is working as Assistant Professor at Division of Entomology, Faculty of Horticulture, SKUAST-K, Shalimar, Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir, India. He had completed Ph.D. Entomology from Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences & Technology, Jammu, Jammu & Kashmir India and Post-Doc from Institute for Biological Control, Julius Kuhn Institute, Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants, Germany. He has a very good experience on mass rearing techniques of insect parasitoids and predators - their field evaluation and impact assessment; host-pathogen interactions and molecular aspects of entomology. He has guided 07 Masters student’s and co-guided 3 doctoral students in the discipline of Agricultural Entomology. He has published more than 25 research papers in high impact factor journals in the discipline of Entomology in general and insect pathology in particular.

Abdo Hassoun is the founder of Sustainable AgriFoodtech Innovation & Research (SAFIR), a non-profit research organization that works in collaboration with other notable partners to contribute to addressing food sustainability issues and making food healthier and more affordable. He completed his Ph.D. in 2016 in France and carried out his postdoctoral research work at the Norwegian Food Research Institute (Nofima). Dr. Hassoun has also experience from the University of the Littoral Opal Coast in France (ULCO). He has been among the first researchers who have explored the potential of Industry 4.0 and emerging technologies in agriculture and the food industry. He serves as an Editorial Board Member and Guest Editor of several international journals and has contributed to numerous scientific publications.

Emeritus professor, faculty of Agriculture,  professor, Arid Lands Agricultural studies and Research Institute, Ain Shams university

He started his career after graduation from Cairo University, faculty of Agriculture working as assistant researcher in the National Research Center. After being granted the Ph.D. degree, he was appointed as lecturer (Assistant Professor) in the faculty of agriculture, Ain Shams University. His career continued ever since as associate professor, then full professor and head of Horticulture Department, then Emeritus Professor at Ain Shams University till the moment.

Dr. Dinesh Chauhan is the Vice President of Projects and Partnerships at DeHaat, a prominent agri-tech firm in India, serving more than two million farmers. With a remarkable 22-year career in the agriculture and agribusiness sector, Dr. Chauhan has held various high-level positions encompassing academics, consulting, sales, and business development. His expertise spans farm solutions, large-scale modern farming, supply chain management, business development, and structured trade finance.

Dr. Chauhan boasts an impressive educational background with a PhD in Management, an MBA in Agribusiness Management, an MSc in Food Technology, and a BSc in Agriculture and Animal Husbandry.

Dr. Stella Despoudi is Senior Lecturer in Food Supply Chain Management & Logistics at the University of Western Macedonia, in Greece. Prior to this Stella has been working for Aston Business School, Coventry University and for Loughborough University’s School of Business & Economics. She holds a PhD in Food Operations and Supply Chain Management from Loughborough University’s School of Business and Economics. 

Stella’s research expertise lies in the following research areas: Circular food supply chains, supply chain resilience, industry 5.0, honey supply chain, food waste and food sustainability. Currently she works on multi-partner projects related to food supply chain resilience, climatic changes, and Industry 5.0. She also works as food supply chain consultant and she is co-owner of a honey processing company called Melizin

Adil Abdelnour is an interdisciplinary scientist and advisor; he works on issues related to water management and environmental policy, specially focused on how to mainstream sustainable agricultural development concepts and applications as related to judicious use of natural resource, sustainable food systems and development of non-conventional water resources.

Dr. Abdelnour works in Saudi Arabia as a consultant at ministry of municipalities, Qassim University and lastly as a technical advisor for the National Research and Development Center (Estidamah). He had been working for some international organizations and private sector companies. His professional interests include environmental policies for sustainable water management, policy research and institutional capacity development for transformation to sustainable management of natural resources. His current interests revolve around water – waste – energy – food nexus.

Dr. Abdelnour delivers many presentations and offer lectures in areas of environmental impacts of unsustainable agricultural practices of Saudi agri-food system, how to shift from resource sufficiency to resource efficiency.

Dr. Abdallah Soubhy Ali is currently an Associate professor of Microbiology at Cairo University in Egypt and a scientific team leader at Anhui University of Technology in China. He earned his Bachelor of Biotechnology at Cairo University, Egypt, in 2001, and his M.Sc. in Environmental Microbiology at the same University, in 2007 and his PhD in Microbial Biotechnology from the Technical University of Munich, Germany in 2015. In his thesis work he pioneered the biorefinery and bioconversion of lignocellulosic material to produce high-valuable products and by-products and applied this to study on different agricultural and agro-industrial wastes to get the maximum benefits form these residues with zero waste processes.

Dr. Kakoli Ghosh works for the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and specializes in sustainable agriculture, agrobiodiversity and food security. She is the Chief Technical Adviser, Sustainable Rural Agriculture Development Program of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where FAO is providing technical and advisory assistance for strengthening agricultural productivity, natural resource management and value addition of commodities for rural development. Dr. Ghosh has extensive experience in dealing with issues and challenges facing agriculture development around the world. Throughout her career, she was based in the FAO Headquarters in Rome, where she held a range of important positions in Plant Production and Protection Division, Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, FAO’s Strategic Program on Sustainable Food and Agriculture and Partnerships and Cooperation Division.

Cecilia Stanghellini, an Italian physicist with a Dutch PhD in Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, has been working at Wageningen University and Research Centre (the Netherlands) for more than 30 years, on the resource use and management of greenhouses in wet and dry climates. Major topics are: greenhouse climate simulation and management; crop yield and resource use efficiency; economy and environmental impact of greenhouse crops. She is [co]author of more than 300 publications including a recent textbook on greenhouse technology.

She has lead several large international projects, financed by the European Union, governments and large companies in Europe, Latin America, and Africa on the topic of efficient greenhouse vegetable production and capacity building.

Prof. Dr. Nazim Gruda, University of Bonn, Germany, is a globally renowned authority in horticulture. He is Vice-Chair of the Division of Vegetables, Roots, and Tubers within the International Society for Horticultural Science. For his outstanding work, he received the "Dr Heinrich-Baur-Prize", from the Technical University of Munich and the "National Scientific Prize" from the Academy of Science of Albania. His influential research places him in the top 2% of global scientists, according to Stanford University. He is a member, an Honorary Member, and a Correspondent of three European Academies, and a "Distinguished Scientist" of the Academy of Science of China.

Prof. Abdullah is currently a Professor of Horticulture in the Department of Plant Production, College of Food and Agricultural Sciences at King Saud University.  He earned his BSc. From King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia with first degree honor, MSc. Degree from the University of California, Davis, CA, USA and PhD degree from Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA.

 His Professional Experience extend to administrative and academic fields. He is currently a representative of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the Council of the International Society for Horticultural Sciences. He is also amember of the judging committee for the National Olympiad for Scientific Creativity in King Abdulaziz and his Companions for Giftedness and Creativity.  He was a board member of the National Center for the Research and Development in Sustainable Agriculture (ISTIDAMAH). He was the founder dean of the College of Scientific and Humanitarian Studies in Alghat City, Almajmaa University.   He was a consultant in the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture.  He served as a Chairman of the Department of Plant Production,  President, Saudi Society for Agricultural Sciences, Board member of the Saudi Biological Society. Deputy Dean and Dean of the College of Food and Agricultural Sciences and Director of the Agricultural Research and Experiment Station.  He earned Al-Marai Prize for Scientific Innovation / Creative Work in Plant   Production from AlMarai Agricultural Company and King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology.  He also had the award for outstanding research publication at King Saud University and outstanding reviewer award from King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology.

He has published more than 110 Arabic and English articles and authored or translated 12 books or book chapters.  He conducted more than 12 research projects and currently working in 3 projects.  He supervised and co- supervised 32 MsC and PhD students in King Saud university and local and international universities.  His main research interests are protected environment agriculture, environmental stress physiology and use of sustainable and renewable energy in food production.

Dr. Jung Eek Son is a professor emeritus and senior researcher at Seoul National University, Republic of Korea. He works for greenhouse horticulture, vertical farm, and smart farming, particularly on recycled soilless culture, canopy photosynthesis modelling, supplemental inter-lighting, light use efficiency, AI and 3D plant modeling. He published about 230 scientific papers and books; and received academic achievement awards and government-level honors. He served presidents of Korean Societies of Horticultural Science, Bio-environmental control, Vertical Farm Research & Industry, and a WG chair of Integrated Production System (ISHS). He was a convener of GreenSys2013 and is a co-convener of LightSym2024 (Korea).

(Affiliation)

Professor emeritus in Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Bioresources and Senior researcher in Research Institute of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Seoul National University, Korea.

Muien Qaryouti has obtained his PhD, 2001, from the Jordan University, in horticulture science.

He started his career as a researcher at the National Agricultural Research Centre since 1992, Amman.

He became a Director for the Irrigated Agriculture Research Program during 2004- 2012, and the Director of Horticultural Research between 2012-2016. Qaryouti continued his career as a Director General Assistant for Research, 2016- 2017, and Deputy Director General.

Besides, he was a member and coordinator of the FAO Regional Working Group on Greenhouse Crop Production in the Mediterranean Region, 2006-2012. Member of the international Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS).

Currently, Qaryouti joined NATIONAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER FOR SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE (ESTIDAMAH) since 2018.

He is expertise is in crop management in protected agriculture, application of different growing media, resilience abiotic stresses, marketing management and international cooperation. 

Professor of Water Resources at the regional Arabian Gulf University (AGU), Bahrain. He serves as the coordinator of the Water Resources Management Graduate Program and the coordinator of the UN Water Learning Center for the Arab Region hosted by the AGU, and serves as a member of the Permanent Advisory Committee of the Water Resources Council in the Kingdom of Bahrain. He obtained his PhD from Colorado State University in 1990 in the field of groundwater systems mathematical modeling. He teaches graduate courses in Hydrogeology and Water Resources Development, Management and Planning in Arid Regions; has published more than 100 research papers in peer-reviewed journals, book chapters, conferences, and seminars;, and supervised more than 45 MSc and PhD theses

Prof. Mohamed Ouessar has a doctorate in Applied Biological Sciences (Land management) from the University of Ghent in Belgium. He is currently a senior researcher at the Arid Zone Research Institute (Tunisia).

He has contributed actively to the realization of numerous joint research projects funded by national and international agencies. His research programs focused mainly on water harvesting, GIS based hydrological modeling and decision support systems, impact assessment, watershed management, climate change impacts and adaptation, combating desertification and drylands management.

He contributed also to the training and capacity building through supervision of trainees and students of all levels from national and international centers and organizations and universities

H.E Dr. Abdulaziz Almalik ,Deputy minister for research and innovation for the Ministry for Environment Water and Agriculture, Saudi Arabia

Abdulaziz Almalik is the deputy minister for research and innovation at the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture of Saudi Arabia. Prior to joining MEWA, he served as vice-president for scientific research support, vice-president for innovation and technology commercialisation, director of the Life Sciences and Environmental Research Institute, vice-chair of the Scientific Council, and professor of pharmaceutical sciences at King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (2015-23). He was also a senior adviser to the governor and a founding member of the founding team of the Research, Development and Innovation Authority. He has extensive experience in developing and managing national-scale RDI initiatives backed by knowledge of intellectual property generation, acquisition, management and strong academic credentials.

 EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS: 

• PhD in International Agricultural Development from Tokyo University of Agriculture. Japan. 
• Master of Science Diploma in Plant Breeding from the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies- Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Saragossa (CIHEAM-IAMZ). Spain. 
• Diploma of Specialized Post-Graduate Studies in Plant Breeding from International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies- Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Saragossa. (CIHEAM-IAMZ). Spain. 
• Agricultural Engineer Diploma from Hassan II Institute of Agronomy and Veterinary Medicine (IAV Hassan II). Rabat. Morocco 

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE 

• Chief of Farming at Al Madinah Heritage Company. (2023-Now)
• Agricultural Expert at the National Center for Palms & Dates. Riyadh. (2022-2023) 
• R&D and Projects Manager at Yousef Abdul Latif and Sons Agriculture (YALA). Yousef Abdul Latif Jameel Group (YALJ Group). Saudi Arabia and Quality Manager at ASYLA Gum Co Ltd. Senegal (Feb 2020-2022). 
• R&D, Organic project and Quality Manager at Yousef Abdul Latif and Sons Agriculture (YALA). Saudi Arabia (June 2019-Feb 2020) and Quality Manager at ASYLA Gum Co Ltd. Senegal. Yousef Abdul Latif Jameel Group (YALJ Group) (Feb 2020-Now) • R&D Manager. Yousef Abdul Latif and Sons Agriculture (YALA). Yousef Abdul Latif Jameel Group (YALJ Group). Saudi Arabia (2010- June 2019) 
• Visiting Professor at the Faculty of Sciences and Techniques (FST)-University of Kadi Ayyad. Beni Mellal. Morocco (2002-2010) 
• Research scientist at the Biotechnology Unit, Laboratory of Molecular Biology, INRA (National Institute of Agronomic Research). Morocco. Rabat (2008-2010) 
• Manager of the Department of Technical Education, Vocational Training, Research and Development at the Regional Directorate of Agriculture in Tadla. Morocco (2008-2010) 
• Manager of the Regional Department of Certification of Seed and Nurseries. Beni Mellal. Morocco (2000-2008) 
• Controller of seeds and nurseries at the Regional Department of Certification of Seed and Nurseries. Beni Mellal. Morocco (1997-2000) 
• Farm Manager of Haddawi Farms. Larache. Morocco. (1995-1997) 

Woody possesses over 16 years of experience in designing and implementing collaborations in both private and public sector in the areas of outcome-driven transformation, strategic advisory, delivery unit design and activation.

His experience covers organizations in various countries in SE Asia, Middle East, and Africa, and he has previously advised Ministers on National Level initiatives in these countries. 

In NEOM Food, Woody is responsible for building and maintaining synergistic strategic initiatives with key public sector partners, stakeholders, and other entities within the food ecosystem in NEOM and KSA, particularly in the areas of regulations, innovation, research and talent pipeline development."

PhD from Auburn University, Alabama, 2016.

He held a number of administrative positions at King Faisal University and represented the university in the National Dialogue Workshop for Sustainable Food Systems in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as well as in a workshop for the G20 meeting entitled: Water, Energy and Food. In addition to a number of international conferences, he also worked in a number of committees within the university and at the Kingdom level, and is Chairman of the Scientific Committee of the International Conference on Food Security and Environmental Sustainability. He currently works as an associate professor at King Faisal University and holds the position of Dean of the College of Agricultural and Food Sciences since 2019.

Salim Al-Babili received his PhD from the University Freiburg, Germany. After his PhD, he obtained a Rockefeller Post-Doc fellowship to work on developing “Golden Rice” in the lab of Peter Beyer and in collaboration with Ingo Potrykus. In 2007, he received his Habilitation in Cell Biology at the University of Freiburg and is currently Professor for Plant Scince and Bioengineering at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), and Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs. The general objective of his research group, the BioActives lab, is to improve the performance and nutritional value of crops by genetic engineering or through application of growth regulators. His group combines enzymology-based, metabolomics and genetic approaches to elucidate metabolic networks and identify new signaling molecules related to abiotic/biotic stress and plant development, with focus on carotenoid and apocarotenoids. Salim Al-Babili has made essential contributions to engineering crops with enhanced pro-vitamin A content and to elucidating carotenoid/apocarotenoid metabolism in plants and microorganisms. His work on retinal biosynthesis in cyanobcateria led to the first structure elucidation of a carotenoid cleavage oxygenase. Through the discovery of carlactone, his research deciphered the core-pathway in the biosynthesis of the carotenoid-derived plant hormone strigolactone. In the last years, he has been focusing on the identification and biology of novel apocarotenoid growth regulators, which revealed the regulatory metabolite anchorene, and the hormone-candidate zaxinone and an epoxidase-independent route for abscisic acid biosynthesis. Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and KAUST, he is currently heading an international consortium to combat the root parasitic plant Striga hermonthica, a major threat to global food security, in sub-Saharan Africa, by using hormone-based approaches based on his basic research. He has several patents and more than 150 peer reviewed papers.

Prof. Salah El-Hendawy obtained his PhD from the Department of Plant Sciences at the Technical University of Munich, Germany in 2004. He has held various faculty positions in the Agronomy Department at the Faculty of Agriculture at Suez Canal University from Demonstrator to Professor. He was awarded a postdoctoral scholarship from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) in 2007 and the Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS) in 2009. Seconded to work as a professor in the Department of Plant Production at the College of Food and Agricultural Sciences - King Saud University in 2012 until now. He has published over 100 research articles in international scientific journals indexed in Q1 and Q2. He has been recognized among the top 2% of scientists worldwide for 2021 and 2022. His research focuses on enhancing irrigation water management and introducing innovative approaches to maximize irrigation water use for field crops in arid and semiarid conditions. Recent efforts have focused on non-destructive methods to accurately assess important traits of drought- and salt-affected genotypes under field conditions (Precision Phenotyping).

Independent consultant & former director of, the Water, Land, and Ecosystems Program, the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA). Formerly, a distinguished professor of agricultural water management at Tottori University in Japan. Since 1991, worked for ICARDA as director, scientist, and research manager. Earlier, worked for the University of Jordan, as an assistant prof. in irrigation and drainage engineering. Received BSc. degree in agriculture and MSc and Ph.D. in irrigation engineering from Utah State University, Utah, USA. Has over 40 years of experience and leadership in international research and development, capacity building, and agricultural water management. Worked in over 80 countries on implementing projects, training, and mobilizing funds for agricultural water management projects in developing countries. Author of 86 refereed journal publications, 13 books, 34 book chapters, and over 200 proceedings, reports, and awareness publications in the areas of water use efficiency, supplemental irrigation, water harvesting, water productivity, deficit irrigation, salinity, and the management of scarce water resources. Reviewer and member of editorial boards of several refereed journals.

Dr. Pierre Broun is Director of Climate-Resilient Agriculture at NEOM, overseeing the development of sustainable, innovative and profitable farming systems to support food self-sufficiency at NEOM and food security for the country. 

Before joining NEOM, Dr. Broun held executive positions in the food industry to ensure sustainable agricultural supply, leading plant science and technology in large agri-food companies, including over 10 years as head of plant science at Nestlé. 

Dr. Broun started his career in biotechnology, both in industry and academia. 

He holds a PhD in plant breeding and biometry from Cornell University.

Ismail Cakmak earned his PhD at the University Hohenheim in Stuttgart, Germany, and full Professor at the Sabanci University, Istanbul, Turkey. Published over 240-peer-reviewed articles, named among the “highly cited researchers” by Clarivate Analytics (Thomson Reuters) and ranked   in the top 0.05 % of most influential scientists in all scientific disciplines in 2022 by Stanford University, based on Elsevier’s Scopus Database.

He has received IFA “International Crop Nutrition Award in 2005, Australian Crawford Fund “Derek Tribe Medal” in 2007, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation-Georg Forster Research Award in 2014, International Plant Nutrition Institute-IPNI Science Prize in 2016 and the World Academy of Sciences-Agricultural Science Prize in 2016.  He is an elected member of “The Academia Europaea” and “The Science Academy” of Turkey.

Joined International Centre for Bio-Saline Agriculture (ICBA), Dubai as Program Leader/section head of the Crop Diversity and Genetics group on 15th Nov 2018 after long stint in rice crop for abiotic stresses. Currently leading the specialized group working on use of suitable cropping solutions for very harsh marginal environments (salty water and soil, drought and high temperature) which is going to be much worsened in future due to climate change. Our major focus in middle east and north Africa (MENA), Central Asia and sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), besides recent outreach to S and SE Asia as well.

Ali Al Lawati is a scientist in the field of Plant Genetic Resources and crop improvement. Currently, Al Lawati is Assistant Professor in Plant Genetics and Biotechnology in the University of Nizwa. Current, research activity is on the medicinal plants’ conservation and characterization. In addition, Al Lawati is managing the Seed genebank a collaborative project between Oman Animal and Plant Genetic Resources Center and the University of Nizwa.

Al Lawati had BSc. (1990) and MSc. (1998) in Plant Sciences and Environment Sciences, respectively, from Sultan Qaboos University, Oman. he had a Ph.D. (2006) in Agronomy (Plant Breeding and Genetics) and minor in Experimental Statistics from New Mexico State University, U.S.A.

Hirt studied biochemistry at the Univ. of Cape Town and Vienna where he received his PhD in 1987. After post-doctoral fellowships at the Univ. of Oxford and Wageningen, he became Professor of Genetics at the Univ. of Vienna. In 2007, he was nominated Director of the INRAe Plant Genomics Institute in Paris and of the Center for Desert Agriculture at KAUST in 2014. Hirt has a long standing record on how plants can survive under abiotic or biotic stress conditions (more than 300 publications, h-index 95). His current research is focused on how plants can survive under abiotic or biotic stress conditions by identifying and using beneficial microbes of desert plants

Biofertilizers An Effective Tool Toward Sustainability in Arid and Semi-arid Regions

Prof. Abdulhakim Bawadekji, Northern Border University Arar, Saudi Arabia.

Agricultural Engineer, PhD in Agricultural Engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He is a Professor at the University of São Paulo (USP), in the Department of Biosystems Engineering, Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture (ESALQ), in Piracicaba, São Paulo, since 1989, where he coordinates the Precision Agriculture Laboratory. He works at the interface between the area of Agricultural Machinery and Precision Agriculture, especially with crop and soil sensors, spatial variability, yield mapping and site specific application of inputs. He coordinated the Brazilian Congress of Precision Agriculture from its creation in 2004 until 2018

Francelino Rodrigues has been working in precision agriculture and remote sensing since 2004, including in his MSc, PhD and Postdoctoral studies. During his time, he has gained precision agriculture and remote sensing experience in contrasting cropping systems (coffee, sugarcane, cereals) in various countries (Brazil, Australia and Mexico) and at different spatio-temporal scales - from plot experiments towards small and commercial farming systems to regional scale. Before joining Lincoln Agritech in July 2021, he worked for around nine years at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). At CIMMYT he was involved in projects related to maize and wheat high throughput field phenotyping, and precision agriculture and remote sensing techniques applied to crop management at different spatial scales – executing field campaigns in countries in East Africa and South Asia and Mexico

Dr. Essam holds a Bachelor degree in Chemistry from King Saud University, a Master degree in Physical Chemistry from Manchester University in UK and a PhD degree in Thermo-Chemistry from Leeds University in UK.

Dr. Essam is a Research Fellow at SABIC Agri Nutrients Company.  He has been holding the position of Senior Manager for Agri Nutrients Technology & Innovation (T&I) Specialty department since 2016. Prior to this, he has been holding many management positions within SABIC T&I.

Dr Zainab Oyetunde-Usman is a Research Social Scientist with background in agricultural and behavioural economics. She completed her Ph.D. at the Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich and her research interestingly focused on the Impact and behavioural analysis of the adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices among farm households in developing countries using various adoption probabilities, impact, and behavioural analysis techniques. She currently works at the Net-Zero and Resilient Farming Department at Rothamsted Research, UK, contributing to the social advancement of improved techniques for tackling climate issues. Her research aims are tailored to providing evidence-based policy intervention that increases resilience and minimises the farming population's vulnerability

Dato’ Dr Mohamad Zabawi expertise includes soil science (soil conservation), agroecological zonation, climate change, green technology, and water stress physiology. Dato’ Dr Mohamad Zabawi obtained his PhD in Water Stress Physiology and MSc in Tropical Agriculture from The Reading Unversity in 2006 and 1993, and his BSc in Agriculture Science (Major in Soil Physic and Conservation) from Universiti Putra Malaysia in 1988. He is the Chairman of the vulnerability and adaptation of agriculture to climate change for the Third National Communication. He is also a member for Academy of Sciences Malaysia Water and Climate Change Task Force, committee member for Research and Innovation in Green Technology and Climate Change, committee member for Adaptation in Green Technology and Climate Change.

Dr. Mudasir Gani is working as Assistant Professor at Division of Entomology, Faculty of Horticulture, SKUAST-K, Shalimar, Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir, India. He had completed Ph.D. Entomology from Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences & Technology, Jammu, Jammu & Kashmir India and Post-Doc from Institute for Biological Control, Julius Kuhn Institute, Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants, Germany. He has a very good experience on mass rearing techniques of insect parasitoids and predators - their field evaluation and impact assessment; host-pathogen interactions and molecular aspects of entomology. He has guided 07 Masters student’s and co-guided 3 doctoral students in the discipline of Agricultural Entomology. He has published more than 25 research papers in high impact factor journals in the discipline of Entomology in general and insect pathology in particular.

Abdo Hassoun is the founder of Sustainable AgriFoodtech Innovation & Research (SAFIR), a non-profit research organization that works in collaboration with other notable partners to contribute to addressing food sustainability issues and making food healthier and more affordable. He completed his Ph.D. in 2016 in France and carried out his postdoctoral research work at the Norwegian Food Research Institute (Nofima). Dr. Hassoun has also experience from the University of the Littoral Opal Coast in France (ULCO). He has been among the first researchers who have explored the potential of Industry 4.0 and emerging technologies in agriculture and the food industry. He serves as an Editorial Board Member and Guest Editor of several international journals and has contributed to numerous scientific publications.

Emeritus professor, faculty of Agriculture,  professor, Arid Lands Agricultural studies and Research Institute, Ain Shams university

He started his career after graduation from Cairo University, faculty of Agriculture working as assistant researcher in the National Research Center. After being granted the Ph.D. degree, he was appointed as lecturer (Assistant Professor) in the faculty of agriculture, Ain Shams University. His career continued ever since as associate professor, then full professor and head of Horticulture Department, then Emeritus Professor at Ain Shams University till the moment.

Dr. Dinesh Chauhan is the Vice President of Projects and Partnerships at DeHaat, a prominent agri-tech firm in India, serving more than two million farmers. With a remarkable 22-year career in the agriculture and agribusiness sector, Dr. Chauhan has held various high-level positions encompassing academics, consulting, sales, and business development. His expertise spans farm solutions, large-scale modern farming, supply chain management, business development, and structured trade finance.

Dr. Chauhan boasts an impressive educational background with a PhD in Management, an MBA in Agribusiness Management, an MSc in Food Technology, and a BSc in Agriculture and Animal Husbandry.

Dr. Stella Despoudi is Senior Lecturer in Food Supply Chain Management & Logistics at the University of Western Macedonia, in Greece. Prior to this Stella has been working for Aston Business School, Coventry University and for Loughborough University’s School of Business & Economics. She holds a PhD in Food Operations and Supply Chain Management from Loughborough University’s School of Business and Economics. 

Stella’s research expertise lies in the following research areas: Circular food supply chains, supply chain resilience, industry 5.0, honey supply chain, food waste and food sustainability. Currently she works on multi-partner projects related to food supply chain resilience, climatic changes, and Industry 5.0. She also works as food supply chain consultant and she is co-owner of a honey processing company called Melizin

Adil Abdelnour is an interdisciplinary scientist and advisor; he works on issues related to water management and environmental policy, specially focused on how to mainstream sustainable agricultural development concepts and applications as related to judicious use of natural resource, sustainable food systems and development of non-conventional water resources.

Dr. Abdelnour works in Saudi Arabia as a consultant at ministry of municipalities, Qassim University and lastly as a technical advisor for the National Research and Development Center (Estidamah). He had been working for some international organizations and private sector companies. His professional interests include environmental policies for sustainable water management, policy research and institutional capacity development for transformation to sustainable management of natural resources. His current interests revolve around water – waste – energy – food nexus.

Dr. Abdelnour delivers many presentations and offer lectures in areas of environmental impacts of unsustainable agricultural practices of Saudi agri-food system, how to shift from resource sufficiency to resource efficiency.

Dr. Abdallah Soubhy Ali is currently an Associate professor of Microbiology at Cairo University in Egypt and a scientific team leader at Anhui University of Technology in China. He earned his Bachelor of Biotechnology at Cairo University, Egypt, in 2001, and his M.Sc. in Environmental Microbiology at the same University, in 2007 and his PhD in Microbial Biotechnology from the Technical University of Munich, Germany in 2015. In his thesis work he pioneered the biorefinery and bioconversion of lignocellulosic material to produce high-valuable products and by-products and applied this to study on different agricultural and agro-industrial wastes to get the maximum benefits form these residues with zero waste processes.

Dr. Kakoli Ghosh works for the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and specializes in sustainable agriculture, agrobiodiversity and food security. She is the Chief Technical Adviser, Sustainable Rural Agriculture Development Program of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where FAO is providing technical and advisory assistance for strengthening agricultural productivity, natural resource management and value addition of commodities for rural development. Dr. Ghosh has extensive experience in dealing with issues and challenges facing agriculture development around the world. Throughout her career, she was based in the FAO Headquarters in Rome, where she held a range of important positions in Plant Production and Protection Division, Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, FAO’s Strategic Program on Sustainable Food and Agriculture and Partnerships and Cooperation Division.

Cecilia Stanghellini, an Italian physicist with a Dutch PhD in Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, has been working at Wageningen University and Research Centre (the Netherlands) for more than 30 years, on the resource use and management of greenhouses in wet and dry climates. Major topics are: greenhouse climate simulation and management; crop yield and resource use efficiency; economy and environmental impact of greenhouse crops. She is [co]author of more than 300 publications including a recent textbook on greenhouse technology.

She has lead several large international projects, financed by the European Union, governments and large companies in Europe, Latin America, and Africa on the topic of efficient greenhouse vegetable production and capacity building.

Prof. Dr. Nazim Gruda, University of Bonn, Germany, is a globally renowned authority in horticulture. He is Vice-Chair of the Division of Vegetables, Roots, and Tubers within the International Society for Horticultural Science. For his outstanding work, he received the "Dr Heinrich-Baur-Prize", from the Technical University of Munich and the "National Scientific Prize" from the Academy of Science of Albania. His influential research places him in the top 2% of global scientists, according to Stanford University. He is a member, an Honorary Member, and a Correspondent of three European Academies, and a "Distinguished Scientist" of the Academy of Science of China.

Prof. Abdullah is currently a Professor of Horticulture in the Department of Plant Production, College of Food and Agricultural Sciences at King Saud University.  He earned his BSc. From King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia with first degree honor, MSc. Degree from the University of California, Davis, CA, USA and PhD degree from Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA.

 His Professional Experience extend to administrative and academic fields. He is currently a representative of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the Council of the International Society for Horticultural Sciences. He is also amember of the judging committee for the National Olympiad for Scientific Creativity in King Abdulaziz and his Companions for Giftedness and Creativity.  He was a board member of the National Center for the Research and Development in Sustainable Agriculture (ISTIDAMAH). He was the founder dean of the College of Scientific and Humanitarian Studies in Alghat City, Almajmaa University.   He was a consultant in the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture.  He served as a Chairman of the Department of Plant Production,  President, Saudi Society for Agricultural Sciences, Board member of the Saudi Biological Society. Deputy Dean and Dean of the College of Food and Agricultural Sciences and Director of the Agricultural Research and Experiment Station.  He earned Al-Marai Prize for Scientific Innovation / Creative Work in Plant   Production from AlMarai Agricultural Company and King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology.  He also had the award for outstanding research publication at King Saud University and outstanding reviewer award from King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology.

He has published more than 110 Arabic and English articles and authored or translated 12 books or book chapters.  He conducted more than 12 research projects and currently working in 3 projects.  He supervised and co- supervised 32 MsC and PhD students in King Saud university and local and international universities.  His main research interests are protected environment agriculture, environmental stress physiology and use of sustainable and renewable energy in food production.

Dr. Jung Eek Son is a professor emeritus and senior researcher at Seoul National University, Republic of Korea. He works for greenhouse horticulture, vertical farm, and smart farming, particularly on recycled soilless culture, canopy photosynthesis modelling, supplemental inter-lighting, light use efficiency, AI and 3D plant modeling. He published about 230 scientific papers and books; and received academic achievement awards and government-level honors. He served presidents of Korean Societies of Horticultural Science, Bio-environmental control, Vertical Farm Research & Industry, and a WG chair of Integrated Production System (ISHS). He was a convener of GreenSys2013 and is a co-convener of LightSym2024 (Korea).

(Affiliation)

Professor emeritus in Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Bioresources and Senior researcher in Research Institute of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Seoul National University, Korea.

Muien Qaryouti has obtained his PhD, 2001, from the Jordan University, in horticulture science.

He started his career as a researcher at the National Agricultural Research Centre since 1992, Amman.

He became a Director for the Irrigated Agriculture Research Program during 2004- 2012, and the Director of Horticultural Research between 2012-2016. Qaryouti continued his career as a Director General Assistant for Research, 2016- 2017, and Deputy Director General.

Besides, he was a member and coordinator of the FAO Regional Working Group on Greenhouse Crop Production in the Mediterranean Region, 2006-2012. Member of the international Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS).

Currently, Qaryouti joined NATIONAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER FOR SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE (ESTIDAMAH) since 2018.

He is expertise is in crop management in protected agriculture, application of different growing media, resilience abiotic stresses, marketing management and international cooperation. 

Professor of Water Resources at the regional Arabian Gulf University (AGU), Bahrain. He serves as the coordinator of the Water Resources Management Graduate Program and the coordinator of the UN Water Learning Center for the Arab Region hosted by the AGU, and serves as a member of the Permanent Advisory Committee of the Water Resources Council in the Kingdom of Bahrain. He obtained his PhD from Colorado State University in 1990 in the field of groundwater systems mathematical modeling. He teaches graduate courses in Hydrogeology and Water Resources Development, Management and Planning in Arid Regions; has published more than 100 research papers in peer-reviewed journals, book chapters, conferences, and seminars;, and supervised more than 45 MSc and PhD theses

Prof. Mohamed Ouessar has a doctorate in Applied Biological Sciences (Land management) from the University of Ghent in Belgium. He is currently a senior researcher at the Arid Zone Research Institute (Tunisia).

He has contributed actively to the realization of numerous joint research projects funded by national and international agencies. His research programs focused mainly on water harvesting, GIS based hydrological modeling and decision support systems, impact assessment, watershed management, climate change impacts and adaptation, combating desertification and drylands management.

He contributed also to the training and capacity building through supervision of trainees and students of all levels from national and international centers and organizations and universities

H.E Dr. Abdulaziz Almalik ,Deputy minister for research and innovation for the Ministry for Environment Water and Agriculture, Saudi Arabia

Abdulaziz Almalik is the deputy minister for research and innovation at the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture of Saudi Arabia. Prior to joining MEWA, he served as vice-president for scientific research support, vice-president for innovation and technology commercialisation, director of the Life Sciences and Environmental Research Institute, vice-chair of the Scientific Council, and professor of pharmaceutical sciences at King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (2015-23). He was also a senior adviser to the governor and a founding member of the founding team of the Research, Development and Innovation Authority. He has extensive experience in developing and managing national-scale RDI initiatives backed by knowledge of intellectual property generation, acquisition, management and strong academic credentials.

 EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS: 

• PhD in International Agricultural Development from Tokyo University of Agriculture. Japan. 
• Master of Science Diploma in Plant Breeding from the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies- Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Saragossa (CIHEAM-IAMZ). Spain. 
• Diploma of Specialized Post-Graduate Studies in Plant Breeding from International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies- Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Saragossa. (CIHEAM-IAMZ). Spain. 
• Agricultural Engineer Diploma from Hassan II Institute of Agronomy and Veterinary Medicine (IAV Hassan II). Rabat. Morocco 

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE 

• Chief of Farming at Al Madinah Heritage Company. (2023-Now)
• Agricultural Expert at the National Center for Palms & Dates. Riyadh. (2022-2023) 
• R&D and Projects Manager at Yousef Abdul Latif and Sons Agriculture (YALA). Yousef Abdul Latif Jameel Group (YALJ Group). Saudi Arabia and Quality Manager at ASYLA Gum Co Ltd. Senegal (Feb 2020-2022). 
• R&D, Organic project and Quality Manager at Yousef Abdul Latif and Sons Agriculture (YALA). Saudi Arabia (June 2019-Feb 2020) and Quality Manager at ASYLA Gum Co Ltd. Senegal. Yousef Abdul Latif Jameel Group (YALJ Group) (Feb 2020-Now) • R&D Manager. Yousef Abdul Latif and Sons Agriculture (YALA). Yousef Abdul Latif Jameel Group (YALJ Group). Saudi Arabia (2010- June 2019) 
• Visiting Professor at the Faculty of Sciences and Techniques (FST)-University of Kadi Ayyad. Beni Mellal. Morocco (2002-2010) 
• Research scientist at the Biotechnology Unit, Laboratory of Molecular Biology, INRA (National Institute of Agronomic Research). Morocco. Rabat (2008-2010) 
• Manager of the Department of Technical Education, Vocational Training, Research and Development at the Regional Directorate of Agriculture in Tadla. Morocco (2008-2010) 
• Manager of the Regional Department of Certification of Seed and Nurseries. Beni Mellal. Morocco (2000-2008) 
• Controller of seeds and nurseries at the Regional Department of Certification of Seed and Nurseries. Beni Mellal. Morocco (1997-2000) 
• Farm Manager of Haddawi Farms. Larache. Morocco. (1995-1997) 

Woody possesses over 16 years of experience in designing and implementing collaborations in both private and public sector in the areas of outcome-driven transformation, strategic advisory, delivery unit design and activation.

His experience covers organizations in various countries in SE Asia, Middle East, and Africa, and he has previously advised Ministers on National Level initiatives in these countries. 

In NEOM Food, Woody is responsible for building and maintaining synergistic strategic initiatives with key public sector partners, stakeholders, and other entities within the food ecosystem in NEOM and KSA, particularly in the areas of regulations, innovation, research and talent pipeline development."

PhD from Auburn University, Alabama, 2016.

He held a number of administrative positions at King Faisal University and represented the university in the National Dialogue Workshop for Sustainable Food Systems in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as well as in a workshop for the G20 meeting entitled: Water, Energy and Food. In addition to a number of international conferences, he also worked in a number of committees within the university and at the Kingdom level, and is Chairman of the Scientific Committee of the International Conference on Food Security and Environmental Sustainability. He currently works as an associate professor at King Faisal University and holds the position of Dean of the College of Agricultural and Food Sciences since 2019.

Salim Al-Babili received his PhD from the University Freiburg, Germany. After his PhD, he obtained a Rockefeller Post-Doc fellowship to work on developing “Golden Rice” in the lab of Peter Beyer and in collaboration with Ingo Potrykus. In 2007, he received his Habilitation in Cell Biology at the University of Freiburg and is currently Professor for Plant Scince and Bioengineering at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), and Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs. The general objective of his research group, the BioActives lab, is to improve the performance and nutritional value of crops by genetic engineering or through application of growth regulators. His group combines enzymology-based, metabolomics and genetic approaches to elucidate metabolic networks and identify new signaling molecules related to abiotic/biotic stress and plant development, with focus on carotenoid and apocarotenoids. Salim Al-Babili has made essential contributions to engineering crops with enhanced pro-vitamin A content and to elucidating carotenoid/apocarotenoid metabolism in plants and microorganisms. His work on retinal biosynthesis in cyanobcateria led to the first structure elucidation of a carotenoid cleavage oxygenase. Through the discovery of carlactone, his research deciphered the core-pathway in the biosynthesis of the carotenoid-derived plant hormone strigolactone. In the last years, he has been focusing on the identification and biology of novel apocarotenoid growth regulators, which revealed the regulatory metabolite anchorene, and the hormone-candidate zaxinone and an epoxidase-independent route for abscisic acid biosynthesis. Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and KAUST, he is currently heading an international consortium to combat the root parasitic plant Striga hermonthica, a major threat to global food security, in sub-Saharan Africa, by using hormone-based approaches based on his basic research. He has several patents and more than 150 peer reviewed papers.

Prof. Salah El-Hendawy obtained his PhD from the Department of Plant Sciences at the Technical University of Munich, Germany in 2004. He has held various faculty positions in the Agronomy Department at the Faculty of Agriculture at Suez Canal University from Demonstrator to Professor. He was awarded a postdoctoral scholarship from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) in 2007 and the Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS) in 2009. Seconded to work as a professor in the Department of Plant Production at the College of Food and Agricultural Sciences - King Saud University in 2012 until now. He has published over 100 research articles in international scientific journals indexed in Q1 and Q2. He has been recognized among the top 2% of scientists worldwide for 2021 and 2022. His research focuses on enhancing irrigation water management and introducing innovative approaches to maximize irrigation water use for field crops in arid and semiarid conditions. Recent efforts have focused on non-destructive methods to accurately assess important traits of drought- and salt-affected genotypes under field conditions (Precision Phenotyping).

Independent consultant & former director of, the Water, Land, and Ecosystems Program, the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA). Formerly, a distinguished professor of agricultural water management at Tottori University in Japan. Since 1991, worked for ICARDA as director, scientist, and research manager. Earlier, worked for the University of Jordan, as an assistant prof. in irrigation and drainage engineering. Received BSc. degree in agriculture and MSc and Ph.D. in irrigation engineering from Utah State University, Utah, USA. Has over 40 years of experience and leadership in international research and development, capacity building, and agricultural water management. Worked in over 80 countries on implementing projects, training, and mobilizing funds for agricultural water management projects in developing countries. Author of 86 refereed journal publications, 13 books, 34 book chapters, and over 200 proceedings, reports, and awareness publications in the areas of water use efficiency, supplemental irrigation, water harvesting, water productivity, deficit irrigation, salinity, and the management of scarce water resources. Reviewer and member of editorial boards of several refereed journals.

Dr. Pierre Broun is Director of Climate-Resilient Agriculture at NEOM, overseeing the development of sustainable, innovative and profitable farming systems to support food self-sufficiency at NEOM and food security for the country. 

Before joining NEOM, Dr. Broun held executive positions in the food industry to ensure sustainable agricultural supply, leading plant science and technology in large agri-food companies, including over 10 years as head of plant science at Nestlé. 

Dr. Broun started his career in biotechnology, both in industry and academia. 

He holds a PhD in plant breeding and biometry from Cornell University.

Ismail Cakmak earned his PhD at the University Hohenheim in Stuttgart, Germany, and full Professor at the Sabanci University, Istanbul, Turkey. Published over 240-peer-reviewed articles, named among the “highly cited researchers” by Clarivate Analytics (Thomson Reuters) and ranked   in the top 0.05 % of most influential scientists in all scientific disciplines in 2022 by Stanford University, based on Elsevier’s Scopus Database.

He has received IFA “International Crop Nutrition Award in 2005, Australian Crawford Fund “Derek Tribe Medal” in 2007, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation-Georg Forster Research Award in 2014, International Plant Nutrition Institute-IPNI Science Prize in 2016 and the World Academy of Sciences-Agricultural Science Prize in 2016.  He is an elected member of “The Academia Europaea” and “The Science Academy” of Turkey.

Joined International Centre for Bio-Saline Agriculture (ICBA), Dubai as Program Leader/section head of the Crop Diversity and Genetics group on 15th Nov 2018 after long stint in rice crop for abiotic stresses. Currently leading the specialized group working on use of suitable cropping solutions for very harsh marginal environments (salty water and soil, drought and high temperature) which is going to be much worsened in future due to climate change. Our major focus in middle east and north Africa (MENA), Central Asia and sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), besides recent outreach to S and SE Asia as well.

Ali Al Lawati is a scientist in the field of Plant Genetic Resources and crop improvement. Currently, Al Lawati is Assistant Professor in Plant Genetics and Biotechnology in the University of Nizwa. Current, research activity is on the medicinal plants’ conservation and characterization. In addition, Al Lawati is managing the Seed genebank a collaborative project between Oman Animal and Plant Genetic Resources Center and the University of Nizwa.

Al Lawati had BSc. (1990) and MSc. (1998) in Plant Sciences and Environment Sciences, respectively, from Sultan Qaboos University, Oman. he had a Ph.D. (2006) in Agronomy (Plant Breeding and Genetics) and minor in Experimental Statistics from New Mexico State University, U.S.A.

Hirt studied biochemistry at the Univ. of Cape Town and Vienna where he received his PhD in 1987. After post-doctoral fellowships at the Univ. of Oxford and Wageningen, he became Professor of Genetics at the Univ. of Vienna. In 2007, he was nominated Director of the INRAe Plant Genomics Institute in Paris and of the Center for Desert Agriculture at KAUST in 2014. Hirt has a long standing record on how plants can survive under abiotic or biotic stress conditions (more than 300 publications, h-index 95). His current research is focused on how plants can survive under abiotic or biotic stress conditions by identifying and using beneficial microbes of desert plants

Biofertilizers An Effective Tool Toward Sustainability in Arid and Semi-arid Regions

Prof. Abdulhakim Bawadekji, Northern Border University Arar, Saudi Arabia.

Agricultural Engineer, PhD in Agricultural Engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He is a Professor at the University of São Paulo (USP), in the Department of Biosystems Engineering, Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture (ESALQ), in Piracicaba, São Paulo, since 1989, where he coordinates the Precision Agriculture Laboratory. He works at the interface between the area of Agricultural Machinery and Precision Agriculture, especially with crop and soil sensors, spatial variability, yield mapping and site specific application of inputs. He coordinated the Brazilian Congress of Precision Agriculture from its creation in 2004 until 2018

Francelino Rodrigues has been working in precision agriculture and remote sensing since 2004, including in his MSc, PhD and Postdoctoral studies. During his time, he has gained precision agriculture and remote sensing experience in contrasting cropping systems (coffee, sugarcane, cereals) in various countries (Brazil, Australia and Mexico) and at different spatio-temporal scales - from plot experiments towards small and commercial farming systems to regional scale. Before joining Lincoln Agritech in July 2021, he worked for around nine years at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). At CIMMYT he was involved in projects related to maize and wheat high throughput field phenotyping, and precision agriculture and remote sensing techniques applied to crop management at different spatial scales – executing field campaigns in countries in East Africa and South Asia and Mexico

Dr. Essam holds a Bachelor degree in Chemistry from King Saud University, a Master degree in Physical Chemistry from Manchester University in UK and a PhD degree in Thermo-Chemistry from Leeds University in UK.

Dr. Essam is a Research Fellow at SABIC Agri Nutrients Company.  He has been holding the position of Senior Manager for Agri Nutrients Technology & Innovation (T&I) Specialty department since 2016. Prior to this, he has been holding many management positions within SABIC T&I.

Dr Zainab Oyetunde-Usman is a Research Social Scientist with background in agricultural and behavioural economics. She completed her Ph.D. at the Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich and her research interestingly focused on the Impact and behavioural analysis of the adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices among farm households in developing countries using various adoption probabilities, impact, and behavioural analysis techniques. She currently works at the Net-Zero and Resilient Farming Department at Rothamsted Research, UK, contributing to the social advancement of improved techniques for tackling climate issues. Her research aims are tailored to providing evidence-based policy intervention that increases resilience and minimises the farming population's vulnerability

Dato’ Dr Mohamad Zabawi expertise includes soil science (soil conservation), agroecological zonation, climate change, green technology, and water stress physiology. Dato’ Dr Mohamad Zabawi obtained his PhD in Water Stress Physiology and MSc in Tropical Agriculture from The Reading Unversity in 2006 and 1993, and his BSc in Agriculture Science (Major in Soil Physic and Conservation) from Universiti Putra Malaysia in 1988. He is the Chairman of the vulnerability and adaptation of agriculture to climate change for the Third National Communication. He is also a member for Academy of Sciences Malaysia Water and Climate Change Task Force, committee member for Research and Innovation in Green Technology and Climate Change, committee member for Adaptation in Green Technology and Climate Change.

Dr. Mudasir Gani is working as Assistant Professor at Division of Entomology, Faculty of Horticulture, SKUAST-K, Shalimar, Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir, India. He had completed Ph.D. Entomology from Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences & Technology, Jammu, Jammu & Kashmir India and Post-Doc from Institute for Biological Control, Julius Kuhn Institute, Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants, Germany. He has a very good experience on mass rearing techniques of insect parasitoids and predators - their field evaluation and impact assessment; host-pathogen interactions and molecular aspects of entomology. He has guided 07 Masters student’s and co-guided 3 doctoral students in the discipline of Agricultural Entomology. He has published more than 25 research papers in high impact factor journals in the discipline of Entomology in general and insect pathology in particular.

Abdo Hassoun is the founder of Sustainable AgriFoodtech Innovation & Research (SAFIR), a non-profit research organization that works in collaboration with other notable partners to contribute to addressing food sustainability issues and making food healthier and more affordable. He completed his Ph.D. in 2016 in France and carried out his postdoctoral research work at the Norwegian Food Research Institute (Nofima). Dr. Hassoun has also experience from the University of the Littoral Opal Coast in France (ULCO). He has been among the first researchers who have explored the potential of Industry 4.0 and emerging technologies in agriculture and the food industry. He serves as an Editorial Board Member and Guest Editor of several international journals and has contributed to numerous scientific publications.

Emeritus professor, faculty of Agriculture,  professor, Arid Lands Agricultural studies and Research Institute, Ain Shams university

He started his career after graduation from Cairo University, faculty of Agriculture working as assistant researcher in the National Research Center. After being granted the Ph.D. degree, he was appointed as lecturer (Assistant Professor) in the faculty of agriculture, Ain Shams University. His career continued ever since as associate professor, then full professor and head of Horticulture Department, then Emeritus Professor at Ain Shams University till the moment.

Dr. Dinesh Chauhan is the Vice President of Projects and Partnerships at DeHaat, a prominent agri-tech firm in India, serving more than two million farmers. With a remarkable 22-year career in the agriculture and agribusiness sector, Dr. Chauhan has held various high-level positions encompassing academics, consulting, sales, and business development. His expertise spans farm solutions, large-scale modern farming, supply chain management, business development, and structured trade finance.

Dr. Chauhan boasts an impressive educational background with a PhD in Management, an MBA in Agribusiness Management, an MSc in Food Technology, and a BSc in Agriculture and Animal Husbandry.

Dr. Stella Despoudi is Senior Lecturer in Food Supply Chain Management & Logistics at the University of Western Macedonia, in Greece. Prior to this Stella has been working for Aston Business School, Coventry University and for Loughborough University’s School of Business & Economics. She holds a PhD in Food Operations and Supply Chain Management from Loughborough University’s School of Business and Economics. 

Stella’s research expertise lies in the following research areas: Circular food supply chains, supply chain resilience, industry 5.0, honey supply chain, food waste and food sustainability. Currently she works on multi-partner projects related to food supply chain resilience, climatic changes, and Industry 5.0. She also works as food supply chain consultant and she is co-owner of a honey processing company called Melizin

Adil Abdelnour is an interdisciplinary scientist and advisor; he works on issues related to water management and environmental policy, specially focused on how to mainstream sustainable agricultural development concepts and applications as related to judicious use of natural resource, sustainable food systems and development of non-conventional water resources.

Dr. Abdelnour works in Saudi Arabia as a consultant at ministry of municipalities, Qassim University and lastly as a technical advisor for the National Research and Development Center (Estidamah). He had been working for some international organizations and private sector companies. His professional interests include environmental policies for sustainable water management, policy research and institutional capacity development for transformation to sustainable management of natural resources. His current interests revolve around water – waste – energy – food nexus.

Dr. Abdelnour delivers many presentations and offer lectures in areas of environmental impacts of unsustainable agricultural practices of Saudi agri-food system, how to shift from resource sufficiency to resource efficiency.

Dr. Abdallah Soubhy Ali is currently an Associate professor of Microbiology at Cairo University in Egypt and a scientific team leader at Anhui University of Technology in China. He earned his Bachelor of Biotechnology at Cairo University, Egypt, in 2001, and his M.Sc. in Environmental Microbiology at the same University, in 2007 and his PhD in Microbial Biotechnology from the Technical University of Munich, Germany in 2015. In his thesis work he pioneered the biorefinery and bioconversion of lignocellulosic material to produce high-valuable products and by-products and applied this to study on different agricultural and agro-industrial wastes to get the maximum benefits form these residues with zero waste processes.

Dr. Kakoli Ghosh works for the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and specializes in sustainable agriculture, agrobiodiversity and food security. She is the Chief Technical Adviser, Sustainable Rural Agriculture Development Program of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where FAO is providing technical and advisory assistance for strengthening agricultural productivity, natural resource management and value addition of commodities for rural development. Dr. Ghosh has extensive experience in dealing with issues and challenges facing agriculture development around the world. Throughout her career, she was based in the FAO Headquarters in Rome, where she held a range of important positions in Plant Production and Protection Division, Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, FAO’s Strategic Program on Sustainable Food and Agriculture and Partnerships and Cooperation Division.

Cecilia Stanghellini, an Italian physicist with a Dutch PhD in Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, has been working at Wageningen University and Research Centre (the Netherlands) for more than 30 years, on the resource use and management of greenhouses in wet and dry climates. Major topics are: greenhouse climate simulation and management; crop yield and resource use efficiency; economy and environmental impact of greenhouse crops. She is [co]author of more than 300 publications including a recent textbook on greenhouse technology.

She has lead several large international projects, financed by the European Union, governments and large companies in Europe, Latin America, and Africa on the topic of efficient greenhouse vegetable production and capacity building.

Prof. Dr. Nazim Gruda, University of Bonn, Germany, is a globally renowned authority in horticulture. He is Vice-Chair of the Division of Vegetables, Roots, and Tubers within the International Society for Horticultural Science. For his outstanding work, he received the "Dr Heinrich-Baur-Prize", from the Technical University of Munich and the "National Scientific Prize" from the Academy of Science of Albania. His influential research places him in the top 2% of global scientists, according to Stanford University. He is a member, an Honorary Member, and a Correspondent of three European Academies, and a "Distinguished Scientist" of the Academy of Science of China.

Prof. Abdullah is currently a Professor of Horticulture in the Department of Plant Production, College of Food and Agricultural Sciences at King Saud University.  He earned his BSc. From King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia with first degree honor, MSc. Degree from the University of California, Davis, CA, USA and PhD degree from Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA.

 His Professional Experience extend to administrative and academic fields. He is currently a representative of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the Council of the International Society for Horticultural Sciences. He is also amember of the judging committee for the National Olympiad for Scientific Creativity in King Abdulaziz and his Companions for Giftedness and Creativity.  He was a board member of the National Center for the Research and Development in Sustainable Agriculture (ISTIDAMAH). He was the founder dean of the College of Scientific and Humanitarian Studies in Alghat City, Almajmaa University.   He was a consultant in the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture.  He served as a Chairman of the Department of Plant Production,  President, Saudi Society for Agricultural Sciences, Board member of the Saudi Biological Society. Deputy Dean and Dean of the College of Food and Agricultural Sciences and Director of the Agricultural Research and Experiment Station.  He earned Al-Marai Prize for Scientific Innovation / Creative Work in Plant   Production from AlMarai Agricultural Company and King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology.  He also had the award for outstanding research publication at King Saud University and outstanding reviewer award from King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology.

He has published more than 110 Arabic and English articles and authored or translated 12 books or book chapters.  He conducted more than 12 research projects and currently working in 3 projects.  He supervised and co- supervised 32 MsC and PhD students in King Saud university and local and international universities.  His main research interests are protected environment agriculture, environmental stress physiology and use of sustainable and renewable energy in food production.

Dr. Jung Eek Son is a professor emeritus and senior researcher at Seoul National University, Republic of Korea. He works for greenhouse horticulture, vertical farm, and smart farming, particularly on recycled soilless culture, canopy photosynthesis modelling, supplemental inter-lighting, light use efficiency, AI and 3D plant modeling. He published about 230 scientific papers and books; and received academic achievement awards and government-level honors. He served presidents of Korean Societies of Horticultural Science, Bio-environmental control, Vertical Farm Research & Industry, and a WG chair of Integrated Production System (ISHS). He was a convener of GreenSys2013 and is a co-convener of LightSym2024 (Korea).

(Affiliation)

Professor emeritus in Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Bioresources and Senior researcher in Research Institute of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Seoul National University, Korea.

Muien Qaryouti has obtained his PhD, 2001, from the Jordan University, in horticulture science.

He started his career as a researcher at the National Agricultural Research Centre since 1992, Amman.

He became a Director for the Irrigated Agriculture Research Program during 2004- 2012, and the Director of Horticultural Research between 2012-2016. Qaryouti continued his career as a Director General Assistant for Research, 2016- 2017, and Deputy Director General.

Besides, he was a member and coordinator of the FAO Regional Working Group on Greenhouse Crop Production in the Mediterranean Region, 2006-2012. Member of the international Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS).

Currently, Qaryouti joined NATIONAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER FOR SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE (ESTIDAMAH) since 2018.

He is expertise is in crop management in protected agriculture, application of different growing media, resilience abiotic stresses, marketing management and international cooperation. 

Professor of Water Resources at the regional Arabian Gulf University (AGU), Bahrain. He serves as the coordinator of the Water Resources Management Graduate Program and the coordinator of the UN Water Learning Center for the Arab Region hosted by the AGU, and serves as a member of the Permanent Advisory Committee of the Water Resources Council in the Kingdom of Bahrain. He obtained his PhD from Colorado State University in 1990 in the field of groundwater systems mathematical modeling. He teaches graduate courses in Hydrogeology and Water Resources Development, Management and Planning in Arid Regions; has published more than 100 research papers in peer-reviewed journals, book chapters, conferences, and seminars;, and supervised more than 45 MSc and PhD theses

Prof. Mohamed Ouessar has a doctorate in Applied Biological Sciences (Land management) from the University of Ghent in Belgium. He is currently a senior researcher at the Arid Zone Research Institute (Tunisia).

He has contributed actively to the realization of numerous joint research projects funded by national and international agencies. His research programs focused mainly on water harvesting, GIS based hydrological modeling and decision support systems, impact assessment, watershed management, climate change impacts and adaptation, combating desertification and drylands management.

He contributed also to the training and capacity building through supervision of trainees and students of all levels from national and international centers and organizations and universities

H.E Dr. Abdulaziz Almalik ,Deputy minister for research and innovation for the Ministry for Environment Water and Agriculture, Saudi Arabia

Abdulaziz Almalik is the deputy minister for research and innovation at the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture of Saudi Arabia. Prior to joining MEWA, he served as vice-president for scientific research support, vice-president for innovation and technology commercialisation, director of the Life Sciences and Environmental Research Institute, vice-chair of the Scientific Council, and professor of pharmaceutical sciences at King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (2015-23). He was also a senior adviser to the governor and a founding member of the founding team of the Research, Development and Innovation Authority. He has extensive experience in developing and managing national-scale RDI initiatives backed by knowledge of intellectual property generation, acquisition, management and strong academic credentials.

 EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS: 

• PhD in International Agricultural Development from Tokyo University of Agriculture. Japan. 
• Master of Science Diploma in Plant Breeding from the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies- Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Saragossa (CIHEAM-IAMZ). Spain. 
• Diploma of Specialized Post-Graduate Studies in Plant Breeding from International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies- Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Saragossa. (CIHEAM-IAMZ). Spain. 
• Agricultural Engineer Diploma from Hassan II Institute of Agronomy and Veterinary Medicine (IAV Hassan II). Rabat. Morocco 

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE 

• Chief of Farming at Al Madinah Heritage Company. (2023-Now)
• Agricultural Expert at the National Center for Palms & Dates. Riyadh. (2022-2023) 
• R&D and Projects Manager at Yousef Abdul Latif and Sons Agriculture (YALA). Yousef Abdul Latif Jameel Group (YALJ Group). Saudi Arabia and Quality Manager at ASYLA Gum Co Ltd. Senegal (Feb 2020-2022). 
• R&D, Organic project and Quality Manager at Yousef Abdul Latif and Sons Agriculture (YALA). Saudi Arabia (June 2019-Feb 2020) and Quality Manager at ASYLA Gum Co Ltd. Senegal. Yousef Abdul Latif Jameel Group (YALJ Group) (Feb 2020-Now) • R&D Manager. Yousef Abdul Latif and Sons Agriculture (YALA). Yousef Abdul Latif Jameel Group (YALJ Group). Saudi Arabia (2010- June 2019) 
• Visiting Professor at the Faculty of Sciences and Techniques (FST)-University of Kadi Ayyad. Beni Mellal. Morocco (2002-2010) 
• Research scientist at the Biotechnology Unit, Laboratory of Molecular Biology, INRA (National Institute of Agronomic Research). Morocco. Rabat (2008-2010) 
• Manager of the Department of Technical Education, Vocational Training, Research and Development at the Regional Directorate of Agriculture in Tadla. Morocco (2008-2010) 
• Manager of the Regional Department of Certification of Seed and Nurseries. Beni Mellal. Morocco (2000-2008) 
• Controller of seeds and nurseries at the Regional Department of Certification of Seed and Nurseries. Beni Mellal. Morocco (1997-2000) 
• Farm Manager of Haddawi Farms. Larache. Morocco. (1995-1997) 

Woody possesses over 16 years of experience in designing and implementing collaborations in both private and public sector in the areas of outcome-driven transformation, strategic advisory, delivery unit design and activation.

His experience covers organizations in various countries in SE Asia, Middle East, and Africa, and he has previously advised Ministers on National Level initiatives in these countries. 

In NEOM Food, Woody is responsible for building and maintaining synergistic strategic initiatives with key public sector partners, stakeholders, and other entities within the food ecosystem in NEOM and KSA, particularly in the areas of regulations, innovation, research and talent pipeline development."

PhD from Auburn University, Alabama, 2016.

He held a number of administrative positions at King Faisal University and represented the university in the National Dialogue Workshop for Sustainable Food Systems in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as well as in a workshop for the G20 meeting entitled: Water, Energy and Food. In addition to a number of international conferences, he also worked in a number of committees within the university and at the Kingdom level, and is Chairman of the Scientific Committee of the International Conference on Food Security and Environmental Sustainability. He currently works as an associate professor at King Faisal University and holds the position of Dean of the College of Agricultural and Food Sciences since 2019.

Salim Al-Babili received his PhD from the University Freiburg, Germany. After his PhD, he obtained a Rockefeller Post-Doc fellowship to work on developing “Golden Rice” in the lab of Peter Beyer and in collaboration with Ingo Potrykus. In 2007, he received his Habilitation in Cell Biology at the University of Freiburg and is currently Professor for Plant Scince and Bioengineering at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), and Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs. The general objective of his research group, the BioActives lab, is to improve the performance and nutritional value of crops by genetic engineering or through application of growth regulators. His group combines enzymology-based, metabolomics and genetic approaches to elucidate metabolic networks and identify new signaling molecules related to abiotic/biotic stress and plant development, with focus on carotenoid and apocarotenoids. Salim Al-Babili has made essential contributions to engineering crops with enhanced pro-vitamin A content and to elucidating carotenoid/apocarotenoid metabolism in plants and microorganisms. His work on retinal biosynthesis in cyanobcateria led to the first structure elucidation of a carotenoid cleavage oxygenase. Through the discovery of carlactone, his research deciphered the core-pathway in the biosynthesis of the carotenoid-derived plant hormone strigolactone. In the last years, he has been focusing on the identification and biology of novel apocarotenoid growth regulators, which revealed the regulatory metabolite anchorene, and the hormone-candidate zaxinone and an epoxidase-independent route for abscisic acid biosynthesis. Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and KAUST, he is currently heading an international consortium to combat the root parasitic plant Striga hermonthica, a major threat to global food security, in sub-Saharan Africa, by using hormone-based approaches based on his basic research. He has several patents and more than 150 peer reviewed papers.

Prof. Salah El-Hendawy obtained his PhD from the Department of Plant Sciences at the Technical University of Munich, Germany in 2004. He has held various faculty positions in the Agronomy Department at the Faculty of Agriculture at Suez Canal University from Demonstrator to Professor. He was awarded a postdoctoral scholarship from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) in 2007 and the Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS) in 2009. Seconded to work as a professor in the Department of Plant Production at the College of Food and Agricultural Sciences - King Saud University in 2012 until now. He has published over 100 research articles in international scientific journals indexed in Q1 and Q2. He has been recognized among the top 2% of scientists worldwide for 2021 and 2022. His research focuses on enhancing irrigation water management and introducing innovative approaches to maximize irrigation water use for field crops in arid and semiarid conditions. Recent efforts have focused on non-destructive methods to accurately assess important traits of drought- and salt-affected genotypes under field conditions (Precision Phenotyping).

Independent consultant & former director of, the Water, Land, and Ecosystems Program, the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA). Formerly, a distinguished professor of agricultural water management at Tottori University in Japan. Since 1991, worked for ICARDA as director, scientist, and research manager. Earlier, worked for the University of Jordan, as an assistant prof. in irrigation and drainage engineering. Received BSc. degree in agriculture and MSc and Ph.D. in irrigation engineering from Utah State University, Utah, USA. Has over 40 years of experience and leadership in international research and development, capacity building, and agricultural water management. Worked in over 80 countries on implementing projects, training, and mobilizing funds for agricultural water management projects in developing countries. Author of 86 refereed journal publications, 13 books, 34 book chapters, and over 200 proceedings, reports, and awareness publications in the areas of water use efficiency, supplemental irrigation, water harvesting, water productivity, deficit irrigation, salinity, and the management of scarce water resources. Reviewer and member of editorial boards of several refereed journals.

Dr. Pierre Broun is Director of Climate-Resilient Agriculture at NEOM, overseeing the development of sustainable, innovative and profitable farming systems to support food self-sufficiency at NEOM and food security for the country. 

Before joining NEOM, Dr. Broun held executive positions in the food industry to ensure sustainable agricultural supply, leading plant science and technology in large agri-food companies, including over 10 years as head of plant science at Nestlé. 

Dr. Broun started his career in biotechnology, both in industry and academia. 

He holds a PhD in plant breeding and biometry from Cornell University.

Ismail Cakmak earned his PhD at the University Hohenheim in Stuttgart, Germany, and full Professor at the Sabanci University, Istanbul, Turkey. Published over 240-peer-reviewed articles, named among the “highly cited researchers” by Clarivate Analytics (Thomson Reuters) and ranked   in the top 0.05 % of most influential scientists in all scientific disciplines in 2022 by Stanford University, based on Elsevier’s Scopus Database.

He has received IFA “International Crop Nutrition Award in 2005, Australian Crawford Fund “Derek Tribe Medal” in 2007, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation-Georg Forster Research Award in 2014, International Plant Nutrition Institute-IPNI Science Prize in 2016 and the World Academy of Sciences-Agricultural Science Prize in 2016.  He is an elected member of “The Academia Europaea” and “The Science Academy” of Turkey.

Joined International Centre for Bio-Saline Agriculture (ICBA), Dubai as Program Leader/section head of the Crop Diversity and Genetics group on 15th Nov 2018 after long stint in rice crop for abiotic stresses. Currently leading the specialized group working on use of suitable cropping solutions for very harsh marginal environments (salty water and soil, drought and high temperature) which is going to be much worsened in future due to climate change. Our major focus in middle east and north Africa (MENA), Central Asia and sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), besides recent outreach to S and SE Asia as well.

Ali Al Lawati is a scientist in the field of Plant Genetic Resources and crop improvement. Currently, Al Lawati is Assistant Professor in Plant Genetics and Biotechnology in the University of Nizwa. Current, research activity is on the medicinal plants’ conservation and characterization. In addition, Al Lawati is managing the Seed genebank a collaborative project between Oman Animal and Plant Genetic Resources Center and the University of Nizwa.

Al Lawati had BSc. (1990) and MSc. (1998) in Plant Sciences and Environment Sciences, respectively, from Sultan Qaboos University, Oman. he had a Ph.D. (2006) in Agronomy (Plant Breeding and Genetics) and minor in Experimental Statistics from New Mexico State University, U.S.A.

Hirt studied biochemistry at the Univ. of Cape Town and Vienna where he received his PhD in 1987. After post-doctoral fellowships at the Univ. of Oxford and Wageningen, he became Professor of Genetics at the Univ. of Vienna. In 2007, he was nominated Director of the INRAe Plant Genomics Institute in Paris and of the Center for Desert Agriculture at KAUST in 2014. Hirt has a long standing record on how plants can survive under abiotic or biotic stress conditions (more than 300 publications, h-index 95). His current research is focused on how plants can survive under abiotic or biotic stress conditions by identifying and using beneficial microbes of desert plants

Biofertilizers An Effective Tool Toward Sustainability in Arid and Semi-arid Regions

Prof. Abdulhakim Bawadekji, Northern Border University Arar, Saudi Arabia.

Agricultural Engineer, PhD in Agricultural Engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He is a Professor at the University of São Paulo (USP), in the Department of Biosystems Engineering, Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture (ESALQ), in Piracicaba, São Paulo, since 1989, where he coordinates the Precision Agriculture Laboratory. He works at the interface between the area of Agricultural Machinery and Precision Agriculture, especially with crop and soil sensors, spatial variability, yield mapping and site specific application of inputs. He coordinated the Brazilian Congress of Precision Agriculture from its creation in 2004 until 2018

Francelino Rodrigues has been working in precision agriculture and remote sensing since 2004, including in his MSc, PhD and Postdoctoral studies. During his time, he has gained precision agriculture and remote sensing experience in contrasting cropping systems (coffee, sugarcane, cereals) in various countries (Brazil, Australia and Mexico) and at different spatio-temporal scales - from plot experiments towards small and commercial farming systems to regional scale. Before joining Lincoln Agritech in July 2021, he worked for around nine years at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). At CIMMYT he was involved in projects related to maize and wheat high throughput field phenotyping, and precision agriculture and remote sensing techniques applied to crop management at different spatial scales – executing field campaigns in countries in East Africa and South Asia and Mexico

Dr. Essam holds a Bachelor degree in Chemistry from King Saud University, a Master degree in Physical Chemistry from Manchester University in UK and a PhD degree in Thermo-Chemistry from Leeds University in UK.

Dr. Essam is a Research Fellow at SABIC Agri Nutrients Company.  He has been holding the position of Senior Manager for Agri Nutrients Technology & Innovation (T&I) Specialty department since 2016. Prior to this, he has been holding many management positions within SABIC T&I.

Dr Zainab Oyetunde-Usman is a Research Social Scientist with background in agricultural and behavioural economics. She completed her Ph.D. at the Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich and her research interestingly focused on the Impact and behavioural analysis of the adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices among farm households in developing countries using various adoption probabilities, impact, and behavioural analysis techniques. She currently works at the Net-Zero and Resilient Farming Department at Rothamsted Research, UK, contributing to the social advancement of improved techniques for tackling climate issues. Her research aims are tailored to providing evidence-based policy intervention that increases resilience and minimises the farming population's vulnerability

Dato’ Dr Mohamad Zabawi expertise includes soil science (soil conservation), agroecological zonation, climate change, green technology, and water stress physiology. Dato’ Dr Mohamad Zabawi obtained his PhD in Water Stress Physiology and MSc in Tropical Agriculture from The Reading Unversity in 2006 and 1993, and his BSc in Agriculture Science (Major in Soil Physic and Conservation) from Universiti Putra Malaysia in 1988. He is the Chairman of the vulnerability and adaptation of agriculture to climate change for the Third National Communication. He is also a member for Academy of Sciences Malaysia Water and Climate Change Task Force, committee member for Research and Innovation in Green Technology and Climate Change, committee member for Adaptation in Green Technology and Climate Change.

Dr. Mudasir Gani is working as Assistant Professor at Division of Entomology, Faculty of Horticulture, SKUAST-K, Shalimar, Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir, India. He had completed Ph.D. Entomology from Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences & Technology, Jammu, Jammu & Kashmir India and Post-Doc from Institute for Biological Control, Julius Kuhn Institute, Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants, Germany. He has a very good experience on mass rearing techniques of insect parasitoids and predators - their field evaluation and impact assessment; host-pathogen interactions and molecular aspects of entomology. He has guided 07 Masters student’s and co-guided 3 doctoral students in the discipline of Agricultural Entomology. He has published more than 25 research papers in high impact factor journals in the discipline of Entomology in general and insect pathology in particular.

Abdo Hassoun is the founder of Sustainable AgriFoodtech Innovation & Research (SAFIR), a non-profit research organization that works in collaboration with other notable partners to contribute to addressing food sustainability issues and making food healthier and more affordable. He completed his Ph.D. in 2016 in France and carried out his postdoctoral research work at the Norwegian Food Research Institute (Nofima). Dr. Hassoun has also experience from the University of the Littoral Opal Coast in France (ULCO). He has been among the first researchers who have explored the potential of Industry 4.0 and emerging technologies in agriculture and the food industry. He serves as an Editorial Board Member and Guest Editor of several international journals and has contributed to numerous scientific publications.

Emeritus professor, faculty of Agriculture,  professor, Arid Lands Agricultural studies and Research Institute, Ain Shams university

He started his career after graduation from Cairo University, faculty of Agriculture working as assistant researcher in the National Research Center. After being granted the Ph.D. degree, he was appointed as lecturer (Assistant Professor) in the faculty of agriculture, Ain Shams University. His career continued ever since as associate professor, then full professor and head of Horticulture Department, then Emeritus Professor at Ain Shams University till the moment.

Dr. Dinesh Chauhan is the Vice President of Projects and Partnerships at DeHaat, a prominent agri-tech firm in India, serving more than two million farmers. With a remarkable 22-year career in the agriculture and agribusiness sector, Dr. Chauhan has held various high-level positions encompassing academics, consulting, sales, and business development. His expertise spans farm solutions, large-scale modern farming, supply chain management, business development, and structured trade finance.

Dr. Chauhan boasts an impressive educational background with a PhD in Management, an MBA in Agribusiness Management, an MSc in Food Technology, and a BSc in Agriculture and Animal Husbandry.

Dr. Stella Despoudi is Senior Lecturer in Food Supply Chain Management & Logistics at the University of Western Macedonia, in Greece. Prior to this Stella has been working for Aston Business School, Coventry University and for Loughborough University’s School of Business & Economics. She holds a PhD in Food Operations and Supply Chain Management from Loughborough University’s School of Business and Economics. 

Stella’s research expertise lies in the following research areas: Circular food supply chains, supply chain resilience, industry 5.0, honey supply chain, food waste and food sustainability. Currently she works on multi-partner projects related to food supply chain resilience, climatic changes, and Industry 5.0. She also works as food supply chain consultant and she is co-owner of a honey processing company called Melizin

Adil Abdelnour is an interdisciplinary scientist and advisor; he works on issues related to water management and environmental policy, specially focused on how to mainstream sustainable agricultural development concepts and applications as related to judicious use of natural resource, sustainable food systems and development of non-conventional water resources.

Dr. Abdelnour works in Saudi Arabia as a consultant at ministry of municipalities, Qassim University and lastly as a technical advisor for the National Research and Development Center (Estidamah). He had been working for some international organizations and private sector companies. His professional interests include environmental policies for sustainable water management, policy research and institutional capacity development for transformation to sustainable management of natural resources. His current interests revolve around water – waste – energy – food nexus.

Dr. Abdelnour delivers many presentations and offer lectures in areas of environmental impacts of unsustainable agricultural practices of Saudi agri-food system, how to shift from resource sufficiency to resource efficiency.

Dr. Abdallah Soubhy Ali is currently an Associate professor of Microbiology at Cairo University in Egypt and a scientific team leader at Anhui University of Technology in China. He earned his Bachelor of Biotechnology at Cairo University, Egypt, in 2001, and his M.Sc. in Environmental Microbiology at the same University, in 2007 and his PhD in Microbial Biotechnology from the Technical University of Munich, Germany in 2015. In his thesis work he pioneered the biorefinery and bioconversion of lignocellulosic material to produce high-valuable products and by-products and applied this to study on different agricultural and agro-industrial wastes to get the maximum benefits form these residues with zero waste processes.

Dr. Kakoli Ghosh works for the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and specializes in sustainable agriculture, agrobiodiversity and food security. She is the Chief Technical Adviser, Sustainable Rural Agriculture Development Program of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where FAO is providing technical and advisory assistance for strengthening agricultural productivity, natural resource management and value addition of commodities for rural development. Dr. Ghosh has extensive experience in dealing with issues and challenges facing agriculture development around the world. Throughout her career, she was based in the FAO Headquarters in Rome, where she held a range of important positions in Plant Production and Protection Division, Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, FAO’s Strategic Program on Sustainable Food and Agriculture and Partnerships and Cooperation Division.

Cecilia Stanghellini, an Italian physicist with a Dutch PhD in Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, has been working at Wageningen University and Research Centre (the Netherlands) for more than 30 years, on the resource use and management of greenhouses in wet and dry climates. Major topics are: greenhouse climate simulation and management; crop yield and resource use efficiency; economy and environmental impact of greenhouse crops. She is [co]author of more than 300 publications including a recent textbook on greenhouse technology.

She has lead several large international projects, financed by the European Union, governments and large companies in Europe, Latin America, and Africa on the topic of efficient greenhouse vegetable production and capacity building.

Prof. Dr. Nazim Gruda, University of Bonn, Germany, is a globally renowned authority in horticulture. He is Vice-Chair of the Division of Vegetables, Roots, and Tubers within the International Society for Horticultural Science. For his outstanding work, he received the "Dr Heinrich-Baur-Prize", from the Technical University of Munich and the "National Scientific Prize" from the Academy of Science of Albania. His influential research places him in the top 2% of global scientists, according to Stanford University. He is a member, an Honorary Member, and a Correspondent of three European Academies, and a "Distinguished Scientist" of the Academy of Science of China.

Prof. Abdullah is currently a Professor of Horticulture in the Department of Plant Production, College of Food and Agricultural Sciences at King Saud University.  He earned his BSc. From King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia with first degree honor, MSc. Degree from the University of California, Davis, CA, USA and PhD degree from Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA.

 His Professional Experience extend to administrative and academic fields. He is currently a representative of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the Council of the International Society for Horticultural Sciences. He is also amember of the judging committee for the National Olympiad for Scientific Creativity in King Abdulaziz and his Companions for Giftedness and Creativity.  He was a board member of the National Center for the Research and Development in Sustainable Agriculture (ISTIDAMAH). He was the founder dean of the College of Scientific and Humanitarian Studies in Alghat City, Almajmaa University.   He was a consultant in the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture.  He served as a Chairman of the Department of Plant Production,  President, Saudi Society for Agricultural Sciences, Board member of the Saudi Biological Society. Deputy Dean and Dean of the College of Food and Agricultural Sciences and Director of the Agricultural Research and Experiment Station.  He earned Al-Marai Prize for Scientific Innovation / Creative Work in Plant   Production from AlMarai Agricultural Company and King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology.  He also had the award for outstanding research publication at King Saud University and outstanding reviewer award from King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology.

He has published more than 110 Arabic and English articles and authored or translated 12 books or book chapters.  He conducted more than 12 research projects and currently working in 3 projects.  He supervised and co- supervised 32 MsC and PhD students in King Saud university and local and international universities.  His main research interests are protected environment agriculture, environmental stress physiology and use of sustainable and renewable energy in food production.

Dr. Jung Eek Son is a professor emeritus and senior researcher at Seoul National University, Republic of Korea. He works for greenhouse horticulture, vertical farm, and smart farming, particularly on recycled soilless culture, canopy photosynthesis modelling, supplemental inter-lighting, light use efficiency, AI and 3D plant modeling. He published about 230 scientific papers and books; and received academic achievement awards and government-level honors. He served presidents of Korean Societies of Horticultural Science, Bio-environmental control, Vertical Farm Research & Industry, and a WG chair of Integrated Production System (ISHS). He was a convener of GreenSys2013 and is a co-convener of LightSym2024 (Korea).

(Affiliation)

Professor emeritus in Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Bioresources and Senior researcher in Research Institute of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Seoul National University, Korea.

Muien Qaryouti has obtained his PhD, 2001, from the Jordan University, in horticulture science.

He started his career as a researcher at the National Agricultural Research Centre since 1992, Amman.

He became a Director for the Irrigated Agriculture Research Program during 2004- 2012, and the Director of Horticultural Research between 2012-2016. Qaryouti continued his career as a Director General Assistant for Research, 2016- 2017, and Deputy Director General.

Besides, he was a member and coordinator of the FAO Regional Working Group on Greenhouse Crop Production in the Mediterranean Region, 2006-2012. Member of the international Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS).

Currently, Qaryouti joined NATIONAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER FOR SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE (ESTIDAMAH) since 2018.

He is expertise is in crop management in protected agriculture, application of different growing media, resilience abiotic stresses, marketing management and international cooperation. 

Professor of Water Resources at the regional Arabian Gulf University (AGU), Bahrain. He serves as the coordinator of the Water Resources Management Graduate Program and the coordinator of the UN Water Learning Center for the Arab Region hosted by the AGU, and serves as a member of the Permanent Advisory Committee of the Water Resources Council in the Kingdom of Bahrain. He obtained his PhD from Colorado State University in 1990 in the field of groundwater systems mathematical modeling. He teaches graduate courses in Hydrogeology and Water Resources Development, Management and Planning in Arid Regions; has published more than 100 research papers in peer-reviewed journals, book chapters, conferences, and seminars;, and supervised more than 45 MSc and PhD theses

Prof. Mohamed Ouessar has a doctorate in Applied Biological Sciences (Land management) from the University of Ghent in Belgium. He is currently a senior researcher at the Arid Zone Research Institute (Tunisia).

He has contributed actively to the realization of numerous joint research projects funded by national and international agencies. His research programs focused mainly on water harvesting, GIS based hydrological modeling and decision support systems, impact assessment, watershed management, climate change impacts and adaptation, combating desertification and drylands management.

He contributed also to the training and capacity building through supervision of trainees and students of all levels from national and international centers and organizations and universities

H.E Dr. Abdulaziz Almalik ,Deputy minister for research and innovation for the Ministry for Environment Water and Agriculture, Saudi Arabia

Abdulaziz Almalik is the deputy minister for research and innovation at the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture of Saudi Arabia. Prior to joining MEWA, he served as vice-president for scientific research support, vice-president for innovation and technology commercialisation, director of the Life Sciences and Environmental Research Institute, vice-chair of the Scientific Council, and professor of pharmaceutical sciences at King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (2015-23). He was also a senior adviser to the governor and a founding member of the founding team of the Research, Development and Innovation Authority. He has extensive experience in developing and managing national-scale RDI initiatives backed by knowledge of intellectual property generation, acquisition, management and strong academic credentials.

 EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS: 

• PhD in International Agricultural Development from Tokyo University of Agriculture. Japan. 
• Master of Science Diploma in Plant Breeding from the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies- Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Saragossa (CIHEAM-IAMZ). Spain. 
• Diploma of Specialized Post-Graduate Studies in Plant Breeding from International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies- Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Saragossa. (CIHEAM-IAMZ). Spain. 
• Agricultural Engineer Diploma from Hassan II Institute of Agronomy and Veterinary Medicine (IAV Hassan II). Rabat. Morocco 

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE 

• Chief of Farming at Al Madinah Heritage Company. (2023-Now)
• Agricultural Expert at the National Center for Palms & Dates. Riyadh. (2022-2023) 
• R&D and Projects Manager at Yousef Abdul Latif and Sons Agriculture (YALA). Yousef Abdul Latif Jameel Group (YALJ Group). Saudi Arabia and Quality Manager at ASYLA Gum Co Ltd. Senegal (Feb 2020-2022). 
• R&D, Organic project and Quality Manager at Yousef Abdul Latif and Sons Agriculture (YALA). Saudi Arabia (June 2019-Feb 2020) and Quality Manager at ASYLA Gum Co Ltd. Senegal. Yousef Abdul Latif Jameel Group (YALJ Group) (Feb 2020-Now) • R&D Manager. Yousef Abdul Latif and Sons Agriculture (YALA). Yousef Abdul Latif Jameel Group (YALJ Group). Saudi Arabia (2010- June 2019) 
• Visiting Professor at the Faculty of Sciences and Techniques (FST)-University of Kadi Ayyad. Beni Mellal. Morocco (2002-2010) 
• Research scientist at the Biotechnology Unit, Laboratory of Molecular Biology, INRA (National Institute of Agronomic Research). Morocco. Rabat (2008-2010) 
• Manager of the Department of Technical Education, Vocational Training, Research and Development at the Regional Directorate of Agriculture in Tadla. Morocco (2008-2010) 
• Manager of the Regional Department of Certification of Seed and Nurseries. Beni Mellal. Morocco (2000-2008) 
• Controller of seeds and nurseries at the Regional Department of Certification of Seed and Nurseries. Beni Mellal. Morocco (1997-2000) 
• Farm Manager of Haddawi Farms. Larache. Morocco. (1995-1997) 

Woody possesses over 16 years of experience in designing and implementing collaborations in both private and public sector in the areas of outcome-driven transformation, strategic advisory, delivery unit design and activation.

His experience covers organizations in various countries in SE Asia, Middle East, and Africa, and he has previously advised Ministers on National Level initiatives in these countries. 

In NEOM Food, Woody is responsible for building and maintaining synergistic strategic initiatives with key public sector partners, stakeholders, and other entities within the food ecosystem in NEOM and KSA, particularly in the areas of regulations, innovation, research and talent pipeline development."

PhD from Auburn University, Alabama, 2016.

He held a number of administrative positions at King Faisal University and represented the university in the National Dialogue Workshop for Sustainable Food Systems in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as well as in a workshop for the G20 meeting entitled: Water, Energy and Food. In addition to a number of international conferences, he also worked in a number of committees within the university and at the Kingdom level, and is Chairman of the Scientific Committee of the International Conference on Food Security and Environmental Sustainability. He currently works as an associate professor at King Faisal University and holds the position of Dean of the College of Agricultural and Food Sciences since 2019.

Salim Al-Babili received his PhD from the University Freiburg, Germany. After his PhD, he obtained a Rockefeller Post-Doc fellowship to work on developing “Golden Rice” in the lab of Peter Beyer and in collaboration with Ingo Potrykus. In 2007, he received his Habilitation in Cell Biology at the University of Freiburg and is currently Professor for Plant Scince and Bioengineering at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), and Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs. The general objective of his research group, the BioActives lab, is to improve the performance and nutritional value of crops by genetic engineering or through application of growth regulators. His group combines enzymology-based, metabolomics and genetic approaches to elucidate metabolic networks and identify new signaling molecules related to abiotic/biotic stress and plant development, with focus on carotenoid and apocarotenoids. Salim Al-Babili has made essential contributions to engineering crops with enhanced pro-vitamin A content and to elucidating carotenoid/apocarotenoid metabolism in plants and microorganisms. His work on retinal biosynthesis in cyanobcateria led to the first structure elucidation of a carotenoid cleavage oxygenase. Through the discovery of carlactone, his research deciphered the core-pathway in the biosynthesis of the carotenoid-derived plant hormone strigolactone. In the last years, he has been focusing on the identification and biology of novel apocarotenoid growth regulators, which revealed the regulatory metabolite anchorene, and the hormone-candidate zaxinone and an epoxidase-independent route for abscisic acid biosynthesis. Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and KAUST, he is currently heading an international consortium to combat the root parasitic plant Striga hermonthica, a major threat to global food security, in sub-Saharan Africa, by using hormone-based approaches based on his basic research. He has several patents and more than 150 peer reviewed papers.

Prof. Salah El-Hendawy obtained his PhD from the Department of Plant Sciences at the Technical University of Munich, Germany in 2004. He has held various faculty positions in the Agronomy Department at the Faculty of Agriculture at Suez Canal University from Demonstrator to Professor. He was awarded a postdoctoral scholarship from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) in 2007 and the Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS) in 2009. Seconded to work as a professor in the Department of Plant Production at the College of Food and Agricultural Sciences - King Saud University in 2012 until now. He has published over 100 research articles in international scientific journals indexed in Q1 and Q2. He has been recognized among the top 2% of scientists worldwide for 2021 and 2022. His research focuses on enhancing irrigation water management and introducing innovative approaches to maximize irrigation water use for field crops in arid and semiarid conditions. Recent efforts have focused on non-destructive methods to accurately assess important traits of drought- and salt-affected genotypes under field conditions (Precision Phenotyping).

Independent consultant & former director of, the Water, Land, and Ecosystems Program, the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA). Formerly, a distinguished professor of agricultural water management at Tottori University in Japan. Since 1991, worked for ICARDA as director, scientist, and research manager. Earlier, worked for the University of Jordan, as an assistant prof. in irrigation and drainage engineering. Received BSc. degree in agriculture and MSc and Ph.D. in irrigation engineering from Utah State University, Utah, USA. Has over 40 years of experience and leadership in international research and development, capacity building, and agricultural water management. Worked in over 80 countries on implementing projects, training, and mobilizing funds for agricultural water management projects in developing countries. Author of 86 refereed journal publications, 13 books, 34 book chapters, and over 200 proceedings, reports, and awareness publications in the areas of water use efficiency, supplemental irrigation, water harvesting, water productivity, deficit irrigation, salinity, and the management of scarce water resources. Reviewer and member of editorial boards of several refereed journals.

Dr. Pierre Broun is Director of Climate-Resilient Agriculture at NEOM, overseeing the development of sustainable, innovative and profitable farming systems to support food self-sufficiency at NEOM and food security for the country. 

Before joining NEOM, Dr. Broun held executive positions in the food industry to ensure sustainable agricultural supply, leading plant science and technology in large agri-food companies, including over 10 years as head of plant science at Nestlé. 

Dr. Broun started his career in biotechnology, both in industry and academia. 

He holds a PhD in plant breeding and biometry from Cornell University.

Ismail Cakmak earned his PhD at the University Hohenheim in Stuttgart, Germany, and full Professor at the Sabanci University, Istanbul, Turkey. Published over 240-peer-reviewed articles, named among the “highly cited researchers” by Clarivate Analytics (Thomson Reuters) and ranked   in the top 0.05 % of most influential scientists in all scientific disciplines in 2022 by Stanford University, based on Elsevier’s Scopus Database.

He has received IFA “International Crop Nutrition Award in 2005, Australian Crawford Fund “Derek Tribe Medal” in 2007, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation-Georg Forster Research Award in 2014, International Plant Nutrition Institute-IPNI Science Prize in 2016 and the World Academy of Sciences-Agricultural Science Prize in 2016.  He is an elected member of “The Academia Europaea” and “The Science Academy” of Turkey.

Joined International Centre for Bio-Saline Agriculture (ICBA), Dubai as Program Leader/section head of the Crop Diversity and Genetics group on 15th Nov 2018 after long stint in rice crop for abiotic stresses. Currently leading the specialized group working on use of suitable cropping solutions for very harsh marginal environments (salty water and soil, drought and high temperature) which is going to be much worsened in future due to climate change. Our major focus in middle east and north Africa (MENA), Central Asia and sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), besides recent outreach to S and SE Asia as well.

Ali Al Lawati is a scientist in the field of Plant Genetic Resources and crop improvement. Currently, Al Lawati is Assistant Professor in Plant Genetics and Biotechnology in the University of Nizwa. Current, research activity is on the medicinal plants’ conservation and characterization. In addition, Al Lawati is managing the Seed genebank a collaborative project between Oman Animal and Plant Genetic Resources Center and the University of Nizwa.

Al Lawati had BSc. (1990) and MSc. (1998) in Plant Sciences and Environment Sciences, respectively, from Sultan Qaboos University, Oman. he had a Ph.D. (2006) in Agronomy (Plant Breeding and Genetics) and minor in Experimental Statistics from New Mexico State University, U.S.A.

Hirt studied biochemistry at the Univ. of Cape Town and Vienna where he received his PhD in 1987. After post-doctoral fellowships at the Univ. of Oxford and Wageningen, he became Professor of Genetics at the Univ. of Vienna. In 2007, he was nominated Director of the INRAe Plant Genomics Institute in Paris and of the Center for Desert Agriculture at KAUST in 2014. Hirt has a long standing record on how plants can survive under abiotic or biotic stress conditions (more than 300 publications, h-index 95). His current research is focused on how plants can survive under abiotic or biotic stress conditions by identifying and using beneficial microbes of desert plants

Biofertilizers An Effective Tool Toward Sustainability in Arid and Semi-arid Regions

Prof. Abdulhakim Bawadekji, Northern Border University Arar, Saudi Arabia.

Agricultural Engineer, PhD in Agricultural Engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He is a Professor at the University of São Paulo (USP), in the Department of Biosystems Engineering, Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture (ESALQ), in Piracicaba, São Paulo, since 1989, where he coordinates the Precision Agriculture Laboratory. He works at the interface between the area of Agricultural Machinery and Precision Agriculture, especially with crop and soil sensors, spatial variability, yield mapping and site specific application of inputs. He coordinated the Brazilian Congress of Precision Agriculture from its creation in 2004 until 2018

Francelino Rodrigues has been working in precision agriculture and remote sensing since 2004, including in his MSc, PhD and Postdoctoral studies. During his time, he has gained precision agriculture and remote sensing experience in contrasting cropping systems (coffee, sugarcane, cereals) in various countries (Brazil, Australia and Mexico) and at different spatio-temporal scales - from plot experiments towards small and commercial farming systems to regional scale. Before joining Lincoln Agritech in July 2021, he worked for around nine years at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). At CIMMYT he was involved in projects related to maize and wheat high throughput field phenotyping, and precision agriculture and remote sensing techniques applied to crop management at different spatial scales – executing field campaigns in countries in East Africa and South Asia and Mexico

Dr. Essam holds a Bachelor degree in Chemistry from King Saud University, a Master degree in Physical Chemistry from Manchester University in UK and a PhD degree in Thermo-Chemistry from Leeds University in UK.

Dr. Essam is a Research Fellow at SABIC Agri Nutrients Company.  He has been holding the position of Senior Manager for Agri Nutrients Technology & Innovation (T&I) Specialty department since 2016. Prior to this, he has been holding many management positions within SABIC T&I.

Dr Zainab Oyetunde-Usman is a Research Social Scientist with background in agricultural and behavioural economics. She completed her Ph.D. at the Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich and her research interestingly focused on the Impact and behavioural analysis of the adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices among farm households in developing countries using various adoption probabilities, impact, and behavioural analysis techniques. She currently works at the Net-Zero and Resilient Farming Department at Rothamsted Research, UK, contributing to the social advancement of improved techniques for tackling climate issues. Her research aims are tailored to providing evidence-based policy intervention that increases resilience and minimises the farming population's vulnerability

Dato’ Dr Mohamad Zabawi expertise includes soil science (soil conservation), agroecological zonation, climate change, green technology, and water stress physiology. Dato’ Dr Mohamad Zabawi obtained his PhD in Water Stress Physiology and MSc in Tropical Agriculture from The Reading Unversity in 2006 and 1993, and his BSc in Agriculture Science (Major in Soil Physic and Conservation) from Universiti Putra Malaysia in 1988. He is the Chairman of the vulnerability and adaptation of agriculture to climate change for the Third National Communication. He is also a member for Academy of Sciences Malaysia Water and Climate Change Task Force, committee member for Research and Innovation in Green Technology and Climate Change, committee member for Adaptation in Green Technology and Climate Change.

Dr. Mudasir Gani is working as Assistant Professor at Division of Entomology, Faculty of Horticulture, SKUAST-K, Shalimar, Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir, India. He had completed Ph.D. Entomology from Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences & Technology, Jammu, Jammu & Kashmir India and Post-Doc from Institute for Biological Control, Julius Kuhn Institute, Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants, Germany. He has a very good experience on mass rearing techniques of insect parasitoids and predators - their field evaluation and impact assessment; host-pathogen interactions and molecular aspects of entomology. He has guided 07 Masters student’s and co-guided 3 doctoral students in the discipline of Agricultural Entomology. He has published more than 25 research papers in high impact factor journals in the discipline of Entomology in general and insect pathology in particular.

Abdo Hassoun is the founder of Sustainable AgriFoodtech Innovation & Research (SAFIR), a non-profit research organization that works in collaboration with other notable partners to contribute to addressing food sustainability issues and making food healthier and more affordable. He completed his Ph.D. in 2016 in France and carried out his postdoctoral research work at the Norwegian Food Research Institute (Nofima). Dr. Hassoun has also experience from the University of the Littoral Opal Coast in France (ULCO). He has been among the first researchers who have explored the potential of Industry 4.0 and emerging technologies in agriculture and the food industry. He serves as an Editorial Board Member and Guest Editor of several international journals and has contributed to numerous scientific publications.

Emeritus professor, faculty of Agriculture,  professor, Arid Lands Agricultural studies and Research Institute, Ain Shams university

He started his career after graduation from Cairo University, faculty of Agriculture working as assistant researcher in the National Research Center. After being granted the Ph.D. degree, he was appointed as lecturer (Assistant Professor) in the faculty of agriculture, Ain Shams University. His career continued ever since as associate professor, then full professor and head of Horticulture Department, then Emeritus Professor at Ain Shams University till the moment.

Dr. Dinesh Chauhan is the Vice President of Projects and Partnerships at DeHaat, a prominent agri-tech firm in India, serving more than two million farmers. With a remarkable 22-year career in the agriculture and agribusiness sector, Dr. Chauhan has held various high-level positions encompassing academics, consulting, sales, and business development. His expertise spans farm solutions, large-scale modern farming, supply chain management, business development, and structured trade finance.

Dr. Chauhan boasts an impressive educational background with a PhD in Management, an MBA in Agribusiness Management, an MSc in Food Technology, and a BSc in Agriculture and Animal Husbandry.

Dr. Stella Despoudi is Senior Lecturer in Food Supply Chain Management & Logistics at the University of Western Macedonia, in Greece. Prior to this Stella has been working for Aston Business School, Coventry University and for Loughborough University’s School of Business & Economics. She holds a PhD in Food Operations and Supply Chain Management from Loughborough University’s School of Business and Economics. 

Stella’s research expertise lies in the following research areas: Circular food supply chains, supply chain resilience, industry 5.0, honey supply chain, food waste and food sustainability. Currently she works on multi-partner projects related to food supply chain resilience, climatic changes, and Industry 5.0. She also works as food supply chain consultant and she is co-owner of a honey processing company called Melizin

Adil Abdelnour is an interdisciplinary scientist and advisor; he works on issues related to water management and environmental policy, specially focused on how to mainstream sustainable agricultural development concepts and applications as related to judicious use of natural resource, sustainable food systems and development of non-conventional water resources.

Dr. Abdelnour works in Saudi Arabia as a consultant at ministry of municipalities, Qassim University and lastly as a technical advisor for the National Research and Development Center (Estidamah). He had been working for some international organizations and private sector companies. His professional interests include environmental policies for sustainable water management, policy research and institutional capacity development for transformation to sustainable management of natural resources. His current interests revolve around water – waste – energy – food nexus.

Dr. Abdelnour delivers many presentations and offer lectures in areas of environmental impacts of unsustainable agricultural practices of Saudi agri-food system, how to shift from resource sufficiency to resource efficiency.

Dr. Abdallah Soubhy Ali is currently an Associate professor of Microbiology at Cairo University in Egypt and a scientific team leader at Anhui University of Technology in China. He earned his Bachelor of Biotechnology at Cairo University, Egypt, in 2001, and his M.Sc. in Environmental Microbiology at the same University, in 2007 and his PhD in Microbial Biotechnology from the Technical University of Munich, Germany in 2015. In his thesis work he pioneered the biorefinery and bioconversion of lignocellulosic material to produce high-valuable products and by-products and applied this to study on different agricultural and agro-industrial wastes to get the maximum benefits form these residues with zero waste processes.

Dr. Kakoli Ghosh works for the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and specializes in sustainable agriculture, agrobiodiversity and food security. She is the Chief Technical Adviser, Sustainable Rural Agriculture Development Program of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where FAO is providing technical and advisory assistance for strengthening agricultural productivity, natural resource management and value addition of commodities for rural development. Dr. Ghosh has extensive experience in dealing with issues and challenges facing agriculture development around the world. Throughout her career, she was based in the FAO Headquarters in Rome, where she held a range of important positions in Plant Production and Protection Division, Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, FAO’s Strategic Program on Sustainable Food and Agriculture and Partnerships and Cooperation Division.

Cecilia Stanghellini, an Italian physicist with a Dutch PhD in Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, has been working at Wageningen University and Research Centre (the Netherlands) for more than 30 years, on the resource use and management of greenhouses in wet and dry climates. Major topics are: greenhouse climate simulation and management; crop yield and resource use efficiency; economy and environmental impact of greenhouse crops. She is [co]author of more than 300 publications including a recent textbook on greenhouse technology.

She has lead several large international projects, financed by the European Union, governments and large companies in Europe, Latin America, and Africa on the topic of efficient greenhouse vegetable production and capacity building.

Prof. Dr. Nazim Gruda, University of Bonn, Germany, is a globally renowned authority in horticulture. He is Vice-Chair of the Division of Vegetables, Roots, and Tubers within the International Society for Horticultural Science. For his outstanding work, he received the "Dr Heinrich-Baur-Prize", from the Technical University of Munich and the "National Scientific Prize" from the Academy of Science of Albania. His influential research places him in the top 2% of global scientists, according to Stanford University. He is a member, an Honorary Member, and a Correspondent of three European Academies, and a "Distinguished Scientist" of the Academy of Science of China.

Prof. Abdullah is currently a Professor of Horticulture in the Department of Plant Production, College of Food and Agricultural Sciences at King Saud University.  He earned his BSc. From King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia with first degree honor, MSc. Degree from the University of California, Davis, CA, USA and PhD degree from Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA.

 His Professional Experience extend to administrative and academic fields. He is currently a representative of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the Council of the International Society for Horticultural Sciences. He is also amember of the judging committee for the National Olympiad for Scientific Creativity in King Abdulaziz and his Companions for Giftedness and Creativity.  He was a board member of the National Center for the Research and Development in Sustainable Agriculture (ISTIDAMAH). He was the founder dean of the College of Scientific and Humanitarian Studies in Alghat City, Almajmaa University.   He was a consultant in the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture.  He served as a Chairman of the Department of Plant Production,  President, Saudi Society for Agricultural Sciences, Board member of the Saudi Biological Society. Deputy Dean and Dean of the College of Food and Agricultural Sciences and Director of the Agricultural Research and Experiment Station.  He earned Al-Marai Prize for Scientific Innovation / Creative Work in Plant   Production from AlMarai Agricultural Company and King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology.  He also had the award for outstanding research publication at King Saud University and outstanding reviewer award from King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology.

He has published more than 110 Arabic and English articles and authored or translated 12 books or book chapters.  He conducted more than 12 research projects and currently working in 3 projects.  He supervised and co- supervised 32 MsC and PhD students in King Saud university and local and international universities.  His main research interests are protected environment agriculture, environmental stress physiology and use of sustainable and renewable energy in food production.

Dr. Jung Eek Son is a professor emeritus and senior researcher at Seoul National University, Republic of Korea. He works for greenhouse horticulture, vertical farm, and smart farming, particularly on recycled soilless culture, canopy photosynthesis modelling, supplemental inter-lighting, light use efficiency, AI and 3D plant modeling. He published about 230 scientific papers and books; and received academic achievement awards and government-level honors. He served presidents of Korean Societies of Horticultural Science, Bio-environmental control, Vertical Farm Research & Industry, and a WG chair of Integrated Production System (ISHS). He was a convener of GreenSys2013 and is a co-convener of LightSym2024 (Korea).

(Affiliation)

Professor emeritus in Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Bioresources and Senior researcher in Research Institute of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Seoul National University, Korea.

Muien Qaryouti has obtained his PhD, 2001, from the Jordan University, in horticulture science.

He started his career as a researcher at the National Agricultural Research Centre since 1992, Amman.

He became a Director for the Irrigated Agriculture Research Program during 2004- 2012, and the Director of Horticultural Research between 2012-2016. Qaryouti continued his career as a Director General Assistant for Research, 2016- 2017, and Deputy Director General.

Besides, he was a member and coordinator of the FAO Regional Working Group on Greenhouse Crop Production in the Mediterranean Region, 2006-2012. Member of the international Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS).

Currently, Qaryouti joined NATIONAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER FOR SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE (ESTIDAMAH) since 2018.

He is expertise is in crop management in protected agriculture, application of different growing media, resilience abiotic stresses, marketing management and international cooperation. 

Professor of Water Resources at the regional Arabian Gulf University (AGU), Bahrain. He serves as the coordinator of the Water Resources Management Graduate Program and the coordinator of the UN Water Learning Center for the Arab Region hosted by the AGU, and serves as a member of the Permanent Advisory Committee of the Water Resources Council in the Kingdom of Bahrain. He obtained his PhD from Colorado State University in 1990 in the field of groundwater systems mathematical modeling. He teaches graduate courses in Hydrogeology and Water Resources Development, Management and Planning in Arid Regions; has published more than 100 research papers in peer-reviewed journals, book chapters, conferences, and seminars;, and supervised more than 45 MSc and PhD theses