A joint hearing co-organised by the parliamentary committees for Economic policy, Industries and Enterprising and for Agrarian Policy with the involvement of the Ministry of Agriculture took place on 16 February.

The Economic Policy, Industries and Enterprising Committee chairman Tahir Mirkishili remarked in his preamble that the hearing was dedicated to the work afoot in the Azerbaijani agriculture, the challenges ahead and the development agenda, and that there would be presentations and discussions about those.

Mr Mirkishili touched on the role of the agriculture in the Azerbaijani economy and export operations; he also mentioned that a considerable portion of the employed population of the country were working in that industry and that its outputs occupied one of the top five positions in the non-oil export sales of Azerbaijan. The reforms going on in the agrarian sector are bearing fruit, so to speak; the 2022 State Budget has the targeted allocations that will cover the agrarian insurance amongst other areas. Nonetheless, the challenges ahead, namely, the shortage of foodstuff in the world observable just now and the price-climb it is causing as well as the difficulties posed by the climate change call for a new approach to the whole industry and demand that it should be followed intently. So, from this point of view, too, today’s hearing matters a lot as it will let its participants glance over the work being done in this context and put the affairs in the perspective.

The chairman of the Agrarian Policy Committee Tahir Rzayev said he was certain that the hearing would prove useful in terms of finding new paths of progress for the national agriculture, which is embraced with the State’s support and attention. The agrarian businesses and the farmers are working self-forgetfully, according to Mr Rzayev who said that the difficulties that the sector experienced were mainly due to natural factors. The committee chairman told of the achievements made in the industry, stressed the reliance of the national food security specifically on local production and  shared his thoughts about the agrarian sector’s development and currently pressing issues.

Minister for Agriculture Inam Karimov took the floor then.

As President Ilham Aliyev had said, the agrarian sector was one of the areas the development of which was a priority task, the minister remarked before telling the participants of the hearing of the successful indices The five years past have seen the approximately 25% increment in the outputs; the growth trend was kept up throughout 2021 and the aggregate outputs have risen by 3.4%. Crop yields were recorded in cereals, cotton and other important sub-sectors last year. The minister proceeded to present the figures telling of the positive dynamics in agricultural exports as well as indicating that the country supplied itself with many products. Further, Mr Karimov talked about the tasks in the ministerial to-do list in connexion with the national food security; he also told the assembly of the innovations implemented in the sector and of institutional reforms. He mentioned the establishment of the Agrarian E-Information System, the already complete liberalisation of the equipment and pedigree cattle markets and the emergence of the agrarian insurance system to conform to market economy requirements.

The minister underscored the sustainable development mechanisms being formed in line with the call of the times and the elaboration of a climate change adaptation strategy. Those two are amongst the topmost tasks, Mr Karimov remarked before emphasising the need to ensure that the limited land and water resources were used efficiently.

The speeches were followed by presentations.

The chairman of the Agrarian Services Agency Mirza Aliyev talked about agrarian reforms and the measures implemented already, the new and progressive agrarian subsidy mechanisms, making the industry more transparent, the state support it is receiving, improvement of the leasing practice and the efficiency of the newly-introduced entities.

The presentation of Firdousi Fikretzade, Director of the Agrarian Research Centre, covered the food security of the republic, the export-oriented agriculture development task list, the current state of affairs with the national grain self-sufficiency as well as the associated problems and prospects.

Discussions followed. The deputy chairman of the Economic Policy, Industries and Enterprising Committee Ali Masimli and the MPs Eldar Ibrahimov, Javanshir Pashazade, Elnur Allahverdiyev, Azer Badamov, Mahir Abbaszade, Emin Hajiyev, Rufat Guliyev, Mushfig Jafarov, Vugar Bayramov, Igbal Mammadov, Aydin Huseynov and Mazahir Efendiyev were asking questions about the prominent agrarian topics and offering their thoughts on increasing the employment within the industry and adding to the food security of Azerbaijan. That was met with answers and clarifications.

Tahir Mirkishili, whilst summing the session up, thanked the guest participants and the MPs alike for their active participation and said he was certain that the discussions they had just had were going to prove useful for the continued progress of the agrarian sector.

The deputy chairman of the Agrarian Policy Committee Sabir Hajiyev, the MPs Novruzali Aslanov, Mashhur Mammadov and Anar Mammadov, Deputy Minister for Agriculture Ilhama Gadimova, Chairman of the Agrarian Loans and Development Agency Seymour Movlayev and other concerned persons attended the hearing as well.

The Press and Public Relations Department
The Milli Majlis