Thriftiness based on contract is being formed in Azerbaijan

Minister Inam Karimov met with participants of Amal Academy Winter School

On February 27, a meeting was held with the participants of the Amal Academy Winter School within the framework of the Project to Increase Agricultural Employment (AMAL) in Lankaran. Minister of Agriculture Inam Karimov, head of Lankaran district executive authority Taleh Garashov, chairman of Agency for Agro Credit and Development Mirza Aliyev and 46 young people from 23 districts joined Amal Academy Winter School attended in the meeting.

Opening the event, Minister of Agriculture Inam Karimov noted that the development of the agricultural sector was declared as a priority by the president of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mr. Ilham Aliyev. The Minister said that as a result of consistent measures, the agricultural sector has entered a new stage and the pace of development in this field continues: “The agricultural reforms carried out by Mr. President envisage further development of Agriculture and for this purpose, the state is implementing very large support measures. As a result of the implemented state support, the agricultural sector has been constantly developing in the last few years. It is no coincidence that last year alone, the total volume of agricultural production increased by more than 7 per cent compared to the previous year”.

Noting that the intensive development of agriculture directly depends on professional personnel, the Minister added that, as in the whole world, Azerbaijan is increasingly in need of professional personnel and specialists with the ability to use modern techniques and technologies that allow to increase the productivity in the agricultural sphere: “According to the instructions and recommendations of the head of State, as in other the aim of the project is to increase the interest of young people in the agricultural sector. This project is a tool for young people to achieve their dream. Amal Academy Winter School is a successful start to ensure joint activities and networking of young people who are seriously interested in the agricultural sector in the future”.

Speaking at the event, head of Lankaran District Executive Authority Taleh Garashov noted that large-scale reconstruction works are implemented out in all areas of the country. He said that as a result of implementation measures in the agricultural sphere as a continuation of the youth policy pursued by the head of state, the interest of young people in the agricultural sphere increased.

The participants of the Amal Academy Winter School exchanged views on the development of agricultural sector, the role of youth in the development of Agriculture, their questions were answered.

Within the framework of the visit, the event participants reviewed citrus orchards built within the AMAL Project in Burjali village of Lankaran region and met with young farmers. This orchard was built on an exemplary farm model, aimed at increasing the interest of young people in the agricultural sector and forming professional habits in the participants of the AMAL Project.

Then the presentation of the value chain project "Production and processing of rice in Lankaran by modern methods" was held. It was noted that the establishment of agribusiness value chains is one of the innovative activities within the sub-component of investment and advisory support for the development of agribusiness of the “Agricultural Competitiveness Strengthening Project” implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture with the World Bank.

Within the framework of the value chain, 11 farmers from Lankaran, Astara and Masalli regions, with an area of 155 hectares, will cooperate with the processing enterprise “Faran” LLC and the products will be available to the market through it. Thanks to the modern line of equipment purchased at the processing plant, the processing volume increased by 8 times and reached from 1 ton to 8 tons in 1 Turn. At the expense of modern equipment, the output of clean rice reached from 40 to 58%. The output of the broken rice was reduced from 30 to 8%.

It was noted that the ”State Program on the development of rice growing in the Republic of Azerbaijan for 2018-2025" was adopted and local farmers' interest in rice growing increased over the past two years. The farmers engaged in the production of rice growing shared their views on the development of this field, their proposals were recorded. The value chains project is the first time in the country to implement a contract-based farm. This model is based on the complete elimination of the problem of the sale of products by farmers who have concluded a contract with the processing enterprise.