On August 8 this year, at the City Palace Hotel in Tashkent, in collaboration with the Ministry of Innovative Development of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Islamic Development Bank, the UN Food Organization, the International Drought Research and Education Platform (IPDRE), and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), ECFS and the UN Development Program, and together with interested parties, organized a diversified forum “Transforming the problems of agriculture and the environment into the opportunity for investment and innovation for the Aral Basin”.

In this forum, more than 80 representatives of Tashkent, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, including senior politicians, scientists, experts and specialists, discussed issues of scientific and innovative development. The forum also involved the leadership and officials of the International Innovation Center of the Aral Sea region under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

Forum participants exchanged views and experiences on innovative scientific, technological and political aspects of improving food and water security, ensuring the interests of people living in the region. Concrete recommendations on integrated water resources management and improving their institutional capacity were discussed as well. In addition, for Central Asia (and Mongolia), the development of water resources and innovative technologies for disinfecting water and soil, as well as the transfer of knowledge and skills to improve local skills and practices for water management in arid regions, was also an important topic.

The meeting was opened by the Deputy Minister of Innovative Development of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Azimjon Nazarov. In addition, speeches were made by Minister of Agriculture Jamshid Khodjaev, Director General of ICBA, Professor Ismakhane Eluafi, Deputy Chairman of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis Boriy Alikhanov.

During the forum, the Minister of Agriculture of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Director General of the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA) Professor Ismahane Eluafi signed a Memorandum of Understanding. The document provides for cooperation in areas of mutual interest.

In particular, the memorandum provides for innovative technologies and approaches, diversification of crops, providing integrated crop production systems, ensuring the relationship between livestock and forestry, the water sector, provides for the development of modern methods of breeding, seed production and distribution of seeds under the program “farmer to farmer”.

In addition, a Memorandum of Cooperation was signed between the International Innovation Center for the Aral Sea basin under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Center for Innovative Development of Science and New Technologies at the Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan.

The forum continues on August 9, and the second day is devoted to seminars on adaptive approaches to feed crops and domestic animals in the Aral Sea region, as well as the introduction of various alternative plants with high nutritional value and more resistant to climatic conditions due to salt and drought tolerance.

http://uza.uz/oz/society/k-p-tarmo-li-forum-mu-okama-markazida-ishlo-kh-zhaligi-ekolo-09-08-2019