On Wednesday, September 25^th, 2013, Dr. Samer Mealah, Dean of Hisham Hijjawi College of Technology, hosted Rabee Al Khandaqji, the Governor of Tubas and the Northern Valleys, at the new Modern Agricultural Training Center in the An-Nassiriya area of Tubas.

Dr. Maealah welcomed all the attendees to the center, which is still under construction. The Center aims to develop the agricultural sector in the Northern West Bank and the Jordan Valley. Through holding various workshops for both sexes, the Center seeks to supply the local market with professionals in the field of plant agriculture. The location in An-Nassiriya is the ideal place to achieve these objectives.

The center has a total estimated cost of 400,000 euros, of which the European Union will contribute 145,000 euros. The project is being implemented by the German Agency for Development and Cooperation in partnership with the private sector.

Gov. Al Khandaqji praised the project which would serve the primarily agricultural region. The Governorate of Tubas is considered the most spacious and fertile in the Palestinian territories, making it the bread basket of Palestine. This project will help develop the Palestinian economy which is still to a large extent dependant on the Israeli economy.

The governor also said that “if we succeed through this Center in graduating trainees who would realize the importance of this land, then these graduates will definitely contribute to the protection of this land from the Israeli aspirations through restoration and cultivation.”

The Modern Agricultural Training Center will work in various agricultural fields, such as cultivating medicinal herbs, domestic agriculture, greenhouse farming, hybridization, hydroponics, open air farming, and other modern techniques. These techniques will increase the profitability of the local agricultural sector.