GREEN SCENE
Finding the right mix “Crops for the Future” looks to Qatar to improve diversity in food production by A nna li se F r a nk
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Sayed Azam-Ali CEO, Crops for the Future Research Centre
7 0 Qatar Today
MARCH 2013
magine your ultimate midafternoon fruit cocktail. It’s vibrantly coloured and icy to the touch, with a slice of orange peeking out of the glass – but what’s inside? You’ll probably pick some old standby ingredients like bananas, strawberries, pineapple and lemon. But why focus on fruits that people across the world gorge on? Try mixing in some nutritional options that haven’t yet made names for themselves in supermarkets and on restaurant menus. “People are using the same plants that everyone’s familiar with,” says Professor Sayed Azam-Ali, CEO of the Crops for the Future Research Centre. “And actually there are a lot of plants that we can take from tropical fruits and vegetables that have very high micronutrients that we can put into the cocktail.” Azam-Ali’s organisation, Crops for the Future, is a private research centre established in 2009 and based in Malaysia. It is looking to expand to regional hubs across the world. Azam-Ali, on his second visit to Qatar, says the country is first on the centre’s list of potential partners. It is also the first country they have visited to look for investors. Brand new and still in the process of building, Crops for the Future was created with a mind to improve diversity in crop production across the planet. Construction of the domes that will house the Malaysian offices, laboratories and visitors’ centre was set to begin last month and be completed around April 2014. In this society dominated by three crops, wheat, rice and maize, we don’t consume a very wide range of nutrients, Azam-Ali as-