Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Ms Anita Nirody, UNDP Resident Representative, and Ambassador of State Israel in Uzbekistan HE Mr. Hillel Newman, visited pilot livestock farms “Khojakent”, “Abulkasim O’g’illari” and “Yulduz” supported by “Sustainable Development of the Livestock Sector in Uzbekistan” project, implemented Jointly by UNDP, the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources and Israeli Agency for International Cooperation - MASHAV.

Ms. Sitara Syed, Assistant to UNDP RR, Mr. Abduvakkos Abdurahmanov, Head of the Environment and Energy Unit, Mr. Bakhtiyar Salibayev and Mr. Abdumalik Namozov, high ranked representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources of Uzbekistan also participated in this tour. The objective of this site visit was to acquaint with pilot activities of livestock project, get to know accomplishments achieved by pilot farms as well as challenges they are facing, and to learn more about livestock sector in Uzbekistan in general.

The first stop of the tour, private farm “Khojakent” has relatively new infrastructure and imported cattle with Holstein breed. During the tour inside the farm guests were impressed by concrete results achieved by the project. The Israeli expert of the project on dairy management Mr. Moshe Katz introduced the ongoing activities supported by joint project, such as nutrition, veterinary care, mechanized milking, artificial insemination, and farm management.

“Abulkasim o’g’illari”- is a middle-sized family-owned entity. The farm owners have just started construction of a new building for the cattle. The visitors were informed on the progress of construction work and upcoming visit of Israeli livestock farm designer, who will give farmers recommendations on principles of livestock farm construction on modern level. In the crop area of the farm the project has organized field workshop for farmers and livestock specialists explaining advantages of seed rotation system and TMR feeding.

At the “Yulduz” farm, which has the largest amounts of heads of cattle, close to 170 milking cows, the visitors were informed about peculiarities of managing a large farm and principles of operating of modern milking equipment, as well as new software program of milk registration.

Upon completion of the tour participants discussed their impressions and summarized results achieved by the project. As stated by Ms. Anita Nirody, “Much has been done, but more could be achieved with strong commitment and cooperation from all stakeholders to help Uzbek farmers more efficiently solve the challenges they are facing in their everyday work”

Mr. Hillel Newman expressed an idea that the experience of the project should be taken to another level, involving larger audiences and geographical areas of Uzbekistan. He also suggested that it would be helpful to establish a fully equipped farm, which could demonstrate all the advantages of intensive farming and serve as a best practice for Uzbek farmers.