This year, our farmers in the At-Bashinsky district planted super elite seed potatoes of the Silvana, Peridiz, Kolomba, and Kmeliya varieties.

As a result, from July 8 to 10, 2024, a field visit was conducted in the Naryn region as part of the “Agrofinancing of Value Chains” project to monitor and evaluate the condition of irrigated seed potatoes.

During the field visit, project experts visited 4 demonstration plots. The overall condition of the fields is excellent, with no signs of diseases or pests despite the abundant rainfall. However, to prevent disease development, the project’s farmers use additional methods to protect the crops from pests and apply nutritional supplements to enhance soil fertility.

Recently, the agricultural consulting service—project partner—visited the seed potato plots in the villages of Kalichino, Acha-Kaindy, Bash-Kaindy (At-Bashinsky district), and Ak-Jar (Kochkor district) as part of the Agrolead company’s seed potato program.

Continuing with the monitoring activities, a seed production training was also held on July 9, where farmers and participants in agricultural schemes took part. The training aimed to enhance farmers’ knowledge of seed potato production and processing methods.

In the frame of «Value Chain Agro Finance» project in Kyrgyzstan a monitoring of seed potato (super elite, elite, R1) was held in Chon-Alai region from 2 -4 July. The monitoring was organized in coordination with the project partner agricultural advisory company «TES-Centre».

As a part of the monitoring  the project experts inspected reproductive crops  and provided the following recommendations to the farmers:

1. Cultivation

2. Use of herbicides according to instructions

3. Manual weeding if necessary

4. Nitrogen fertilization with irrigation

5. Hilling of fields

To sustain the compliance with the agronomic requirements, the farmers regularly receive on time technical support and recommendations on the proper use of herbicides technology.

From May 22-31, we spearheaded a series of comprehensive trainings in Bishkek, focusing on food safety and certification for the Bai Elim Company LLC. These trainings were part of our broader initiative to support enterprises in their efforts to integrate robust certification systems.

The sessions were designed to elevate the company’s understanding of international certification scheme requirements and to underscore the advantages of adopting such schemes, covering key aspects of primary certification schemes and their alignment with international standards. Our certified expert from GOPA AFC, Almaz Davletov, led these training sessions.

With his extensive experience in the assessment, development, and integration of certification systems in the food production sector, Almaz was able to engage the participants, sparking great interest and motivation. With this newly acquired knowledge, Bai Elim Company is now better equipped to effectively navigate the process of certification scheme integration, enhancing their food safety measures.

Recently, we held a training session on planting pepper in Nizhne-Chuy village, Kyrgyzstan; a collaborative effort between our project experts and the “TES-Center” Consulting Company.

Fifteen project farmers participated, learning about innovative pepper planting technologies, soil preparation, the use of standard fertilizers, drip irrigation systems, and seedlings planting and treatment techniques.

The session, which highlighted the benefits of a new two-line planting scheme and protection methods against sunburn effects, was well-received as farmers recognized its value for sweet pepper cultivation.

The agricultural season in Kyrgyzstan’s sweet pepper fields is progressing actively. For support, our “Value Chain Agro Finance” project, in collaboration with Tes-Center Consulting Company, has initiated a series of agricultural monitoring sessions in the Nizhne-Chuy and Ak-Bashat villages.

These sessions, which kicked off from May 25-27, are designed to refine the agronomic practices of farmers and examine the preparation of soil for effective use of planting schemes and phosphorus fertilizers. Our team of project experts conducted meticulous inspections of the pepper seedlings in greenhouses, looking for any signs of diseases and crop pests.

The monitoring activities have proven quite beneficial for the farmers. They are now equipped with advanced preventive measures for plant treatment and have broadened their understanding of the best agricultural technologies. This knowledge is expected to significantly enhance their pepper cultivation practices.

We’re thrilled to share a successful field day held in the Aral village of the Jalal-Abad region, Kyrgyzstan, on May 17, 2024.
Organized in collaboration with our project partner, the agricultural consulting company “TES-Center”, the event aimed to equip Jalal-Abad oblast farmers with productive methods and technologies for cultivating and strengthening early onion value chain amid climate change.
The event was graced with the presence of onion farmers, agricultural machinery, seeds and inputs service providers, Ishenbekov Taalaybek – the akim of Nooken district, district administration specialists, and our project’s experts.

The day was filled with insightful presentations on early onion cultivation technologies, interactive discussions, and shared information about “Aral Elim” cooperative’s activities, improved onion cultivation agro-technologies, and the economic analysis of onion breeding using advanced technologies.

We want to share insights from a significant event that took place on May 14-15, 2024: Our team facilitated cooperative meetings between the representatives of HZPC, a Dutch leader in seed potato breeding, our international and national project experts, and our project partner, “Tes-center”.

These meetings focused on discussing the quality assurance of potato seeds and the growth potential of potato production in Kyrgyzstan. A highlight of the event was a visit to the cooperative farm “Zhar-Bashy”, where participants inspected “super-elite” category seed potato crops and interacted with cooperative members. Further discussions with district administration representatives explored the future of seed production development.

The HZPC delegation, together with our project experts, also evaluated storage facilities for their suitability for storing potato seeds. With these activities, we’re paving the way for new opportunities to enhance the cultivation and quality of seed potatoes in the region, and exploring potential for expanding exports to neighboring countries.

Our Value Chain Agro Finance project is working with farmer groups to integrate advanced agricultural technologies for the spring fieldwork season. From 20-25 April, along with our partner “TES Center” we conducted practical trainings and consultations focused on cultivating sugar beet and sweet pepper.

Over 100 farmers from Chui Oblast, Kyrgyzstan, expanded their knowledge on subjects like “Sweet pepper cultivation”, “Seedling condition monitoring”, and “Sugar beet germination monitoring”.

Our experts also shared seedling cultivation technologies and effective weed control methods. In addition, on 8 May, we held a practical counseling session for beet growers.

The session included discussions and demonstrations on mineral fertilizing technologies and weed control in sugar beet cultivation. As a result, 15 more beet farmers are ready to implement these practices.

The “Value Chain Agro Finance” Project in Kyrgyzstan, co-financed by the European Union, the European Investment Bank, and the German Development Bank (KfW), along with technical assistance for producers and processors of agri-food products, supports public laboratories in expanding the scope of accreditation for food indicators. Project support to laboratories includes the transfer of “know-how” through training and professional development of personnel, provision of necessary equipment, and rehabilitation works ensuring the expansion of the accreditation area. The funding source for equipment, rehabilitation works, and “know-how” transfer activities is provided from the European Union IFCA grant for Kyrgyzstan. The Authorized Ministry for the Project implementation is the Ministry of Finance of the Kyrgyz Republic.

To identify the priority areas of technical assistance and effective Project cooperation with the laboratory of the Department of Disease Prevention and State Sanitary and Epidemiological Control under the Ministry of Health of the Kyrgyz Republic, a working meeting of the Project experts with the management and specialists of the laboratory testing center was held on 13 February 2024. The Deputy Minister of Finance of the Kyrgyz Republic, Ruslan Tatikov, took part in the meeting, familiarizing himself with the activities of the Department’s laboratory and participating in discussions on issues such as the need for rehabilitation (renovation) works, equipment, and support for the transfer of “know-how.” The meeting also addressed ensuring effective interaction between the laboratory testing center management, the Project, and the Ministry of Finance of the Kyrgyz Republic to timely achieve the set objectives for extending the accreditation scope, defining ways of efficient cooperation to achieve objectives on quality and food safety indicators.

Note:
“The “Value Chain Agro Finance” Project in Kyrgyzstan was officially launched on April 25, 2023.
The project provides support to farmers and processing enterprises of value chain participants in implementing new advanced technologies for agricultural production and processing, introducing international standards of product quality, and gaining access to long-term agricultural investment loans in the national currency.

The total project budget is EUR 37 million and is provided by the European Union, the European Investment Bank, and the German Development Bank (KfW).