On April 06, 2023 at the Kyrgyz National Agrarian University and Naryn State University in the framework of the project “Development of Higher Education Content Aimed to Support Industries for Sustainable Production of Qualitative Agri-food” (AgroDev) a national seminar was held on the topic: “Seminar of national academic, industrial and government agencies in Kyrgyzstan” (T6.5) in online and offline format. The “AgroDev” project aims to modernize higher education to foster the development of national agri-food production systems in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.
The purpose of the seminar was to present the results and achievements of the project over 2.5 years and identify further joint initiatives aimed at ensuring the availability of modern practices and knowledge and their application in various sectors of the agro-industrial complex of the Kyrgyz Republic and other areas of food-related production (sorting, calibration, packaging, primary processing, etc.).
The seminar was attended by representatives of government agencies, departments, research institutes, farms, cooperatives, associations and agro-clusters; associated partners of the of the project (Public Association of Dairy Cattle Breeding “Kyrgyz-Sut”; Association for Agricultural Development); national non-governmental organizations involved in agricultural development projects and teachers involved in the work of the project.
The seminar was devoted to a discussion of the questions: what knowledge and skills are necessary for effective production and development, and the definition of further activities related to the implementation and support of good agricultural practices in agrarian sectors.
Representatives of KNAU and NSU management and project manager – Irina Kulitane made a greeting speech.
Project coordinators: Aijan Tolobekova (KNAU) made a presentation on the work done and results achieved (modernization of curricula, guest lectures and master classes, on acquisition of laboratory equipment and literature) and Gulzana Kurmanalieva (NSU) told about achieved results of the project.
The first part of the seminar included presentations: Mirzoravshan Kobilov “About GAP/GlobalG.A.P., the structure of the standard, the need and stages of implementation of the standard”, Ishenbek Alykeyeva “On good agricultural practice in animal husbandry” and Elmira Kaparova “On good agricultural practice in crop production”. The participants discussed the application of the standard in national conditions, the availability of the appropriate certifying authority and the procedure for certification according to the G.A.P. standard.
Concluding the first part of the seminar, Umed Aslanov emphasized the paramount importance of ensuring the quality of food safety, compulsory compliance with established regulations, and noted the voluntary nature of standards.
The second part of the seminar was devoted to discussing the opportunities and necessary steps to establish and strengthen long-term and sustainable cooperation between universities and agricultural enterprises to organize joint applied research and training to meet the needs of the Kyrgyz agricultural sector.
At the end of the workshop the results were summarized: the main topics of the working sessions for the upcoming forum in Bishkek (October 2023), topics of training for entrepreneurs/producers to improve the quality and safety of food), conclusions about the readiness of the sector and agribusinesses to develop and implement GAP and approaches to sustainable management were made.
