Important role of databases in agricultural management

The main principles of Electronic Agricultural Information System (EAIS) are close interaction with farmers, transparent and effective management, and implementation of innovations  

Consistent improvement of information support for agriculture is one of the most important conditions for establishment of management of this sector at the level of modern requirements. High-quality information support enhances the ability to conduct real-world assessment to justify appropriate policy measures in the agricultural sector. In this regard, the creation and improvement of databases on the development of agriculture has recently been carried out. Currently, a new agrarian information system, i.e. databases that meet modern challenges are being formed in our country.

One of the important steps taken towards the development of the agricultural sector and the electronization of agrarian services is the creation of the Electronic Agricultural Information System (EAIS). EAIS is a unified system based on the principles of close interaction with farmers, transparent and effective management, and implementation of innovations, which are the main principles of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Azerbaijan, providing opportunities for integration with internal and external systems and creating the basis for the formation of an extensive information base in the agricultural sector.

EAIS is, first of all, a transparent and operational management tool that provides for the formation of modules covering business processes related to all stages of state support measures for agricultural producers.

At the same time, EAIS plays the role of an important information base in the agricultural sector by expanding integration with foreign systems, covering over time all areas of agriculture and all regulatory, support and service processes in these areas. As, in EAIS, it is possible to prepare analytical reports and build models that will help in decision-making and become the basis for planning future development, as well as to collect and create “Big Data”, which is the main requirement of the modern era. Thanks to this, it is possible to establish a logical relationship between all processes related to agriculture, complete the processes, implement modern technical solutions, conduct a comprehensive analysis and make forecasts based on accurate data.

The objectives of EAIS include such key areas as creating a unified database on farmers and the resources they use, increasing transparency in the provision of subsidies from the state budget, improving the mechanism for providing subsidies, and providing forecasting, coordination and control capabilities for the Ministry of Agriculture.

In accordance with the “Rules for subsidizing the production of agricultural products” approved by Decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan No. 759 dated June 27, 2019, starting from 2020, subsidies to farmers in the field of crop production and animal husbandry are provided without alternative only through EAIS. This creates conditions for obtaining and organizing more detailed information about farmers. Thus, information on the number of farmers who have declared their crops, by districts and villages, on the declared territory, the farm profile, as well as on subsidies for agricultural crops and animals is structured and analyzed.

Agricultural market information is also essential for effective management decisions in the agricultural sector. For regular and sustainable use of such information, an information portal for agricultural prices has been created within the framework of a project implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture in cooperation with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), which was subsequently updated by the Ministry of Agriculture and created www.aqrarbazar.az as Electronic Price Information Portal on agriculture.

The Electronic Price Information Portal provides information on supply prices of fruit, vegetable, potato, melons and gourds from the field, wholesale, retail and processing enterprises, retail and wholesale prices for livestock products, as well as retail prices for means of production and etc.

Prices for all product types or assortments are collected on a daily, weekly and monthly basis, depending on the product, taking into account the low, medium and high levels. However, since 2020, data on wholesale and retail prices of agricultural products for the purpose of an operative assessment of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are collected every day of the week and entered into the database. On the basis of these data, operational newsletters are prepared daily “On changes in wholesale and retail prices for agricultural products”.

The Electronic Price Information Portal is accessible to the public.

One of the main criteria indicating the effectiveness of the agricultural policy in the country is the impact of this policy on the activities of agricultural producers. And the criteria that characterize it are a system of important indicators for evaluating the effectiveness of this policy. In this regard, the Farm Data Monitoring System (FDMS) was established by the relevant decision of the European Commission. This system, called the Farm Accountancy Data Network - FADN at the European Union level, is used in all member countries.

Acting as one of the necessary management tools for the decision-making process in the agricultural sector, the FDMS was established in Azerbaijan for the first time in the CIS on an important database. To formalize this database, direct data is collected on an annual basis from 3-4 thousand farmers, engaged in agricultural sector in different regions of the country.

One of the important and necessary databases in the field of agriculture is the geographical database. Formed by the Ministry of Agriculture and called Geographic Information Systems (GIS), this database is an information system that provides collection, processing, storage, transmission, and cartographic and visual presentation of the spatially coordinated information.

The structure of this database includes the results of photointerpretation on orthophoto maps for actual use of agricultural lands, as well as spatial and non-spatial data on all water basins on perennial plantations and greenhouses, as well as statistics of the digital model and spatial data of orthophoto maps and relief, the results of photo-projection of agricultural lands.

In 2020, immediately after the liberation of our lands, within the framework of the work carried out to restore agriculture in the territories of Azerbaijan subjected to military occupation of Armenia based on various satellite images in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, an actual map of the arable and perennial crops on agricultural lands has been compiled and statistical reports have been prepared on the regions.

Also, the names, location and codes of the occupied villages have been specified, as well as, the mentioned information has been updated in the Electronic Agricultural Information System.

In addition, in 2020, when the state-supported agrarian insurance mechanism is officially launched in Azerbaijan, maps have been prepared to allow the Agrarian Insurance Fund to assess agricultural risks on the basis of relief data (DEM model) for the planning of insurance risks on agricultural lands.

In general, in accordance with the measures taken to improve agrarian insurance mechanism, the functionality of Agrarian Insurance Information System Software will be increased and the coverage of the database will be expanded.

In addition, the process of creating new databases in various fields has begun. So, with the purpose of providing detailed database on investment opportunities in agribusiness areas, the azaqroinvest.az  portal will be created. Preliminary feasibility studies will be conducted in the field of production, processing, supply and procurement of agricultural products and based on this, exemplary investment projects will be prepared and posted on this portal. The portal, avaliable in Azerbaijani and English, will be regularly updated and presented to local and foreign investors.

A number of measures are also being taken to improve farmers' access to extension and advisory services through the use of new innovative technologies. Thus, it is planned to create a mobile application platform that will provide hundreds of thousands of farmers with extension and advisory services, so that farmers will be able to register in this application through EAIS. Hence, educational information will be accessible to all farmers through the mobile application, farmers will be able to regularly receive notifications about the risks of disease transmission, advice on agro-technical services, and other information.

The work done within the framework of the "Digital Agriculture" project implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture is a clear example of this. The project was launched as a pilot experiment in Guba, Gusar, Khachmaz and Shamakhi regions. Five climate stations covering about 60 villages have been launched in these districts. Climate stations are a modern innovative system that allows to observe the development phase of diseases and pests in the process of plant development, accordingly, timely and correctly predict the field work. Sensors, integrated into this system, collect information on air temperature, humidity level, rainfall, leaf moisture, precipitation time, and wind speed; so, these data are analyzed and sent to farmers. Farmers, in turn, plan their work against plant diseases and pests by taking this information into account. As a result, the effectiveness of the fight against diseases and pests rises, the production of products increases, farmers are able to optimize their costs.

Thanks to this system, the risk of water shortage, which has become a global problem in recent years, has been also eliminated to some extend. By virtue of this metho, farmers know where and how much water they should use and they do not waste. The project is also expanding in other economic regions.

Expanding the provision of necessary and high-quality information through the application of digital technologies is one of the main priorities of the "Smart Village" project, which is currently being implemented in our liberated territories.

Ph.D., Firdovsi FIKRATZADE,

Director of Agricultural Economics Research Center