On March 23-24, immediately after the holidays on the occasion of Novruz Bayram, the “Obadesgakhyzmat” enterprise of the public association Support Center for Disabled Persons of Turkmenistan with the support of the Governance Support Program (GSP) in Turkmenistan, project of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) held a two-day workshop “Types of rural business in the Koytendag region and the involvement of women in its development.” The seminar was attended by representatives of state, public and private organizations interested in developing their own business.
The facilitator of the seminar, Maral Akmamedovna Annanurova, PhD in Agriculture, director of the enterprise of Support Center for Disabled Persons of Turkmenistan “Obadesgakhyzmat” in October last year already had experience in holding a seminar for farmers of the Koytendag etrap. At the last seminar, the scientist spoke about the features and varieties of pistachio plants, their efficient and sustainable cultivation in the climatic conditions of the area.
This time, the purpose of the seminar was awareness rising on rural business and ways to develop it; how to equip and develop horticulture and greenhouse farming, correctly calculate costs and draw up a business plan; about the experience of women’s entrepreneurship in the Central Asian region; on the expediency of involving women in agricultural entrepreneurship and the creation of a rural cooperative. Also, on the territory of the Koytendag State Reserve, practical classes were held on planting seedlings of pistachio trees.
According to its climatic and geographical features, the cultivation of walnut crops in the Koytendag region makes sense. Moreover, nuts are a high-calorie product and table decoration, the main ingredient in confectionery, etc. Therefore, the activity to create a women’s agricultural cooperative, based on the cultivation of pistachio trees, is primarily aimed at improving the varieties of pistachio trees and other agricultural products that are resistant to the local climate, using effective innovative methods for growing agricultural products all year round. At the same time, the issues of saturation of the consumer market with walnut products, gender equality, employment of the local population, economic indicators of the region will improve. Based on the experience of the neighboring countries of Central Asia, the development of this agribusiness can initiate the creation of an association of walnut producers in Turkmenistan in order to unite walnut producers throughout the country and jointly resolve all issues to increase productivity, develop export directions.
“As a result of the seminar, we can conclude that the audience is very interested in further contacts and the continuation of such seminars on the topic of agricultural business. After the first seminar, the population of the Koytendag etrap actively took up the sowing of pistachio trees and almonds. Reserve workers call it “Boom”. This hasn’t happened for about 15 years. Almost every household has seedlings, and the number of applications to the reserve for pistachio seeds and seedlings has increased. It turned out that more than 30 farms, distinguished by their particular activity, planted more than 50 seedlings each. Almost all the participants of the seminars are engaged in agriculture, according to preliminary estimates, 7 people are ready to engage in large agricultural business, of which 3 are women and 4 are men,” M.A. Annanurov noted.
For the future formation of an agricultural cooperative, it is necessary to carry out additional activities in the form of trainings and conversations with the population. School teachers were also participants in the seminar, who showed interest in distributing educational materials of the event among high school students, which in the future will help the youth of this region with the definition of a profession, the process of starting their own business.
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