His Highness Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister of the UAE, Minister of Presidential Affairs and Chairman of Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority (ADFCA), chaired a meeting of ADFCA Board held at the Ministry of Presidential Affairs.

The Board agreed to contribute to the agricultural investment fund project, which is part of the project to set up green houses aimed at improving the average production of vegetables. This is expected to help with food security and to support sustainable farming and animal wealth in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.

The Board also approved a study on the project to support farmers with organic fertilizers and to list treated organic fertilizers from Abu Dhabi factories in the farmers support programs. To that end, there will be coordination between ADFCA, Farmers' Services Centre and the Abu Dhabi Waste Management Centre.

The Board decided to ink agreements with a number of local banks, as part of which account for farmers benefitting from the farmers' income improvement program would be opened. This is meant to make sure the payments are made to the right people and the accounts thereof updated continuously.

The Board approved the setting up of the central building for meat inspection. This is among the approved initiatives which form part of ADFCA's 2013 � 2016 strategy. The idea behind it is to set up the main stores to preserve veterinary medicines and lotions. 

The Board discussed the proposal to provide treatment services for non-food producing animals such as horses, gazelles, falcons and others. It has also endorsed the publication of a number of practice guides on the development of regulations based on risk factors and HACCP for the food catering sector. The guides will help with details on the types of food establishments and the magniture of work in them.

The Board has also discussed the recommendations on SIAL Middle East, including the increase in the number of participants and to widen it scope internationally, besides incorporating a wing for health foods and organic products,. The recommendations also include increasing the exhibition of marine products and participating in a number of external exhibitions this year to showcase local products.

ADFCA also agreed to take part in the agricultural census project for 2013 on both the technical front and field work in association with the Abu Dhabi Statistics Centre. The project is aimed at gathering data on the agricultural sector and pass them on the government bodies responsible for preparing the plans and development programs for agriculture. This will also help researchers and other concerned people to use in their studies on farming. ADFCA will contribute in the census methodology and unification of farming terminology, besides preparing the modus operandi for the execution of the project.