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“DEVELOPMENT ISSUES OF INNOVATIVE ECONOMY IN THE
AGRICULTURAL SECTOR”
International scientific-practical conference on March 25-26, 2021.
Web:
http://conference.sbtsue.uz/uz
Introduction
Uzbekistan is the largest state in Central Asia with a population of 33 million people. Continuous
population growth requires addressing food security challenges. About 48%of population lives in rural
area. The main contributor on securing food availability as well as provision of livelihood for rural
populition in Uzbekistan is agriculture. Agriculture accounts for 32% of Uzbekistan’s GDP and employs
27% of the working population (Mansur Eshov, 2021).
Project TOPAS aims at filling the gap former soviet inherited agricultural sciences higher education
system in Ukraine, Armenia and Uzbekistan, introducing and improving vocationally oriented practical
programs based on a learning outcomes
and competencies approach, targeting new and old graduates,
with flexible learning pathways and permeability among the different agrarian management programs,
while fostering partnership between universities and stakeholders (farm industry and associations), and
practical training in real working environment to provide a better match between job market needs and
the qualifications offered. Armenia (AM), Ukraine (UKR) and Uzbekistan (UZ) have shared a common
historical background. Since the national independence of Uzbekistan the
government has been paying
attention to development of the education system, including agriculture. A number of regulations have
been adopted in order to address the problems in education regarding the agricultural sector. Agriculture
is one of the dominating sectors of the country’s economy and developing intensively. Nevertheless, a
problem of a lack of qualified agricultural personnel still exists, and there are graduates of agricultural
fields trying to find jobs in other fields. The last three-four years can be called a period of unprecedented
comprehensive reforms in the agricultural sector, including the introduction
of market mechanisms,
advanced technologies into the agricultural sector and the implementation of the transition to a cluster
production system. The development of agricultural production has become strategic. One of the priority
directions of the «Strategy of actions for the further development of the Republic of Uzbekistan", adopted
at the beginning of 2017, is the modernisation and intensive development of agriculture. On October 23,
2019, by the Decree of the President, the "Strategy for the Development of Agriculture of the Republic
of Uzbekistan for 2020-2030" was approved, which covered nine strategic priorities, the seventh of which
was development of science, education, systems of information and consulting services in agriculture.
The most important tasks of the agricultural sector in Uzbekistan today are the guaranteed provision
of the population with agricultural products with the rational use of resources and opportunities, the
creation of new jobs in the field, further increasing the interest of rural population in the results of their
work, the introduction of advanced approaches.
Last but not least, one of the common problems in all these three countries is the lack of reliable
data available. There is a strong hypothesis that improvement in HE and research could help closing the
gap between potential and actual production. There is worldwide evidence that agricultural research yields
high returns as it helps to increase yields. Within this context, agricultural HEIs do not have information
about the results of economic activity of enterprises. Statistics reflects only the aggregated data of sector
development using the index of certain types of products produced on certain territory (district, region,
country). Internships may be used to obtain real data of farm enterprises that are not available in the
official statistical information.
By developing tools and paths for improvement of practical skills of graduates and fostering better
links with agribusiness the project enhance employability and thus contribute to the improvement of the
livelihood of the local population through intensification of private farming based on (ecologically,
economically and socially) sustainable land and water resources.
Samarkand Institute of Veterinary Medicine was established at 1929
as Samarkand Agricultural
Institute and is oldest agricultural higher educational establishment in Central Asia. Institute was renamed
in 2018 by Presidential decree in order to in deepening education and research in the fields of agriculture
related with animal breeding and health. SamVMI now providing undergraduate and postgraduate
