Regional University Students Learn Climate Smart Agriculture
Students of the Samtskhe-Javakheti and Telavi Universities are benefiting from demo-plots equipped with modern, climate smart technologies in order to broaden their agriculture and environmental related education and research skills.
The lack of practical education and research skills in regional universities of Georgia led the European Neighborhood Program for Agriculture and Rural Development (ENPARD) to implement a project called Empowering Modern Research Practices of the Regional Agriculture-Related Institutions, in partnership with the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA), the Caucasus Environmental NGO Network (CENN), and PMC Research Center, aiming to increase the capacity to conduct research and meet challenges within the agricultural value chain, climate change and rural development sectors.
The first demo-plot was opened at the Iakob Gogebashvili Telavi State University where students planted strawberries in raised beds using drip irrigation and mulching systems.
According to Manana Kevlishvili, the Dean of the Agriculture Sciences Faculty of Telavi State University, the development of such pilot projects is very important for both students and universities.
“Students will have the possibility to practice what they learn in the actual field and apply modern techniques to the plants and soil, including composting,” she says. Besides strawberries, students will plant raspberries, blackberries, plums, persimmon and walnuts.
Demo-plots will let students get practical training to help them understand proper land preparation, sowing and planting techniques, integrated pest management and post-harvest best practice. They will examine how modern, climate smart technology can increase farming efficiency and enhance resilience to climate change and variability.
Within the next six months, the project plans on developing another demo-plot at the Akhaltsikhe University. Meanwhile, the universities will allocate laboratories, tools, equipment and other available technical resources to contribute to collecting empirical evidence-based results on the topic of modern agricultural and rural development.
Additionally, the pilot project’s implementing team will stimulate and motivate the institutions to look into modern approaches aimed at increasing their competitive advantages. In response, the reputation of the individual universities is expected to grow as the demand for their research-based knowhow, advice and recommendations increases.
Baia Dzagnidze