Saudi Arabia has launched the first Agricultural Media Award, which initiatives and activities that serve sustainable agricultural development and food security in the kingdom.

The award will also support the role of the press in the adoption of vital agricultural issues, foster a culture of media competition to raise and discuss agricultural issues objectively and constructively, and honour outstanding journalists who have made significant contributions in these areas.

The national award in the field of specialized agricultural information award is fully supported by the Ministry of Agriculture and sponsored and financed by ARASCO through a strategic partnership with the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce via a range of direct programs and events.

The Agricultural Media Award Committee announced the details, conditions and criteria of the award in its final form during a press conference held at Novotel Hotel in Riyadh.

Dr Mohammad Sulaiman, dean of Community College at the University of Harimlae and chairman of the award committee, said that the award plays in supporting and activating development strategies in order to realize sustainable food resources and to conserve water, plant, animal and environment resources.

“The participants comprise two categories: Corporate Media and Individual Media. The Corporate Media category will honor media organizations that have a positive impact in the field of agriculture at the socioeconomic level, and the Individual Media will honor three winners for the best media work that focuses on the journalist’s skills in the areas of journalist investigation, journalist dialogue and press articles,” he said.

Dr Sulaiman reiterated that the Committee will start receiving candidate journalist works from January until late December, and the awarding ceremony shall honor the winners at a later stage.

He pointed out that the monetary value of the award amounts to SR100,000 ($26,660), of which SR50,000 goes to the first winner, SR30,000 to the second winner and SR20,000 to the third winner.

The chairman of the Agricultural Media Award Committee talked about the award’s evaluation criteria, and reflected on devising ways to enhance the knowledge of the community in the agricultural sector and serious impacts of ignoring the threats, the beauty of style, language integrity and smooth presentation, as well as the degree of press professionalism and the response of the public and the state officials to competitive works with a commitment to a high level of documentation and scientific approach.

Dr Sulaiman expressed his hope that the Agricultural Media Award will contribute to establishing its mission in supporting the agricultural media creativity to sustain agricultural activity and develop supportive policies for the management and maintenance of agricultural, animal and food resources in Saudi Arabia.

He stated that the award lays the foundation for a constructive partnership between the Ministry of Agriculture, local media and the private sector.

He added that the award will also help agricultural activity to grow and develop, by motivating journalists to employ their potential for creativity and prominence that best serve this sector, forming community awareness on its issues, concerns and pressing needs, and honoring creative journalists and rewarding them in an annual event dedicated to the Award.

Dr Sulaiman added that the award serves as a channel of communication between the media, the Ministry of Agriculture and the private agricultural sector to better serve the agricultural issues, policies and strategies adopted by the state and to raise the public awareness on the importance of these issues.

“The national press is a genuine partner in addressing the issues of concern to the community, highlighting the obstacles and problems that hinder its inception, and forging a clear vision to help find effective solutions to similar problems,” he said.

“Based on this perspective, we believe that the Award would strengthen this partnership, encourage journalists to play a bigger role in agricultural issues and present them to the public in a way that encourages their interaction, suggest successful projects and solutions that sustain food resources and shed the light on the state’s role in this field and other agricultural fields that have direct impact on people’s lives.,” he concluded. – TradeArabia News Service