Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) - Agriculture in Uzbekistan is one of the priority sectors both economically and socially. Today it provides 32 percent of GDP and 27 percent of the population are employed. The state pursues an effective agricultural policy, and agriculture itself is at the stage of fundamental reform and modernization.

How to make this sector even more effective, turn it into a powerful driver of economic growth in the country, increase export of agricultural products and incomes of farmers and agricultural enterprises, create thousands of new jobs in rural areas? Uzbekistan has a huge resource and scientific base with the use of progressive and modern approaches and principles, probably, would achieve the maximum realization of the agricultural potential of the republic.

Studying the experience of Spain in this direction, a group of specialists from relevant ministries and institutions, as well as journalists from Uzbekistan, got acquainted with the activities of the experimental center, created jointly with the University of Almeria and the large agricultural cooperative ANECOOP.

A study tour was held as part of a joint project of the Regional Environmental Center of Central Asia (CAREC) and the EU “Raising Awareness and Partnership for Sustainable Water and Environmental Development of Uzbekistan” (“UzWaterAware”).

This center is a successful example of public-private partnerships not only in the agricultural, but also in the scientific field. It was created in 2004 to coordinate the research and experiments of ANECOOP and the University of Almeria.

The center is a universal station, deployed on 14 thousand square meters, about half of which is occupied by high-tech greenhouses. Here, research is carried out aimed at modernizing and improving the competitiveness of the agricultural sector, and the developed innovations are then transferred to farmers.

As the center’s staff noted, this is an ideal public-private partnership (PPP) format structure for achieving a common goal, and at the same time, it is open for the development and implementation of research projects with interested companies.

An excellent infrastructure has been created here and equipment for research in greenhouses has been installed. The center works on a large number of research projects and has extensive experience in managing them.

As part of the research, the center’s specialists identify factors that affect the technical and economic efficiency of sustainable crop production. At the same time, much attention is paid to the agroecological and food safety policies. A competitive advantage is the transfer of environmentally sustainable technologies, as well as cooperation in projects of national and international studies and training activities on the use of renewable energy in agriculture. In this context, the center could become a useful partner for Uzbek farmers and scientists, research institutions and entrepreneurs.

Introducing the greenhouses, employees of the center told and showed what agricultural technologies can be used in arid and semi-arid zones. So, for example, the technology of soilless crop production has been successfully tested and works here: crops are placed in a substrate of palm fibers, which is fed with water enriched with minerals and salts. The advantage of this method is not only the ability to grow fruits without the presence of fertile soil, but also the reuse of water in this process. After use, its residues are merged, cleaned and again irrigated. The effectiveness and rationality of such technology, as well as the collection and use of rainwater for irrigation, which is practiced here, is not questioned, especially in an arid climate.

In addition, the technology of the passive cycle of growing plants, that is, when the temperature control in the greenhouses is regulated by opening and closing windows, seems to be an interesting development. The energy here is used mainly for technical operations and to a greater extent it is generated mechanically.

The directions in which studies are conducted are set by both the scientists themselves and the cooperatives that make up ANECOOP. They are the main customers of technology and experimental development.

In a word, public-private partnership in the agricultural sector is of great benefit to both parties, and this can be seen in the successful Spanish experience.

The National Strategy for the Development of Agriculture of Uzbekistan for 2019-2030 envisages measures to develop a model of public-private partnership for the provision of additional services in the sector, as well as a radical reform of the field of science and industry research institutions.

According to some reports, in 2018 Uzbekistan spent only 0.02 percent of the value of gross agricultural output on applied agricultural science and education. Advisory services are also inaccessible to local farmers. Of course, the list of tasks and challenges facing domestic agriculture is quite extensive. However, their solution seems quite realistic.

So, for example, the National Strategy includes the issues of attracting grants and technical assistance funds from international financial institutions to modernize the material and technical base of research institutes in the field of seed and fruit and vegetable growing, increase the allocated funds for research and development, distribution network agricultural knowledge, as well as information and advisory services.

Undoubtedly, the successful implementation of these tasks will make it possible to achieve high results in the process of transforming agriculture into a competitive industry that works in the interests of the private sector, citizens and the state. At the root of all, probably, the great desire of each of the links in this chain to invent and promote ideas, to disseminate knowledge.