BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 31
By Fidan Babayeva - Trend:
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is ready to support the development of agriculture in the liberated Azerbaijani territories on the basis of the priorities set by Azerbaijan, the FAO Partnership and Liaison Office in Azerbaijan told Trend.
Besides, this week during an online meeting on the topic ‘Results of the development of sugar beet production in 2020 and upcoming tasks in 2021’ Minister of Agriculture Inam Karimov said that as a result of the measures taken in Azerbaijan, high indicators have been achieved in the production of sugar beets in the past year.
According to the minister, the development of the agricultural sector was declared by the head of state as one of the priority areas. For the development of the agrarian sector, including an increase in the production of sugar beets, the state is implementing systemic measures to support production. Since the production of sugar beet in Azerbaijan is one of the important sectors in agriculture, the need to further increase the yield of this agricultural product was emphasized.
As Karimov noted, Azerbaijan produced 336,000 tons of cotton in 2020, which is 41,000 tons more than in 2019. The cotton yield increased by 14 percent compared to the previous year and amounted to 33.6 centners per hectare.
"Cotton growing, like all other agricultural sectors, has entered a new stage of development. The work done within the ‘State program for the development of cotton growing in Azerbaijan for 2017-2022’ has given its benefits," he further said.
The minister also noted that a comprehensive action plan has been prepared for the timely implementation of work on sowing cotton and the implementation of technical support issues, covering the entire production process this year.
"The main goal is to increase the yield of cotton through intensive technologies of its cultivation," added Karimov.
Another important event of the outgoing week was development of model charter in Azerbaijan.
The charter has been developed to simplify the procedure for creating production cooperatives in the field of agriculture.
The organization of the development of the agricultural sector, the efficient use of land, the creation of agricultural cooperatives as a form of joint farming to increase the income of farmers are of great importance. By providing significant support to small agricultural producers, cooperatives are increasing their access to a variety of services, resources, technology, credit, and supply centers.
The ‘Strategic Roadmap for the production and processing of agricultural products in of Azerbaijan’ identifies measures to create farmer partnerships and develop cooperation in agriculture.
The creation of cooperatives is considered to be the best way to move agriculture from small-scale production to competitive production, increase productivity through the use of innovative technologies, and provide access to foreign markets, and the Ministry of Agriculture continues to undertake measures in this direction
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