New agricultural project will cover one more region

The project, funded by the European Union, initially covered the Ganja-Gazakh and Guba-Khachmaz regions. Project started in November 2019, initially considered two pilot regions for implementing the regional approach in developing of this activity. Later it has been agreed between parties, to consider the Lankaran-Astara region as a focus region taking into account its regional rural specifics and potential for agricultural production.

The 2-year project will implement sub-projects to provide agricultural advisory services to farmers in the pilot regions. The project will study the agrarian services needed by farmers in these regions, the appropriate methods to obtain these services, and test appropriate models of European countries by applying the opportunities of public-private partnership.

It should be noted that surveys have been completed among farmers and agrarian consultants in Ganja-Gazakh and Guba-Khachmaz regions within the project, which began in February this year. The results of the surveys will be finalized and presented to the public soon. At the same time, similar surveys have been conducting in the Lankaran-Astara region. More than 200 farmers and about 50 agricultural consultants from each region, including suppliers of fertilizers, seeds, and pesticides, took part in the survey.

The main goal is to form an adequate agricultural advisory strategy through strengthening the system of advisory services for increasing agricultural productivity and sustainable rural development.