Tajik Minister of Agriculture Sulaimon Ziyozoda participated in the second meeting of the Ministers of Agriculture of Central Asia that took place on December 8.

Facilitated by FAO and Kazakhstan, the virtual meeting reportedly provided a platform for participating countries to share their approaches and experience, and reaffirm their commitment to digital agriculture despite the difficult circumstances.

The challenges and opportunities of digital agriculture was the topic of the meeting.  According to FAO, the Central Asian countries expressed interest in developing and implementing comprehensive digital agricultural strategies to spur the growth of digital technologies.

Digitalization has the potential to accelerate the transformation towards more sustainable and inclusive agriculture and food systems and help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), even in remote areas.

The five Central Asian countries have reportedly made good progress towards adopting digital technologies in their agricultural sectors, including the use of precision agriculture, crop and livestock monitoring, and digital soil maps.  However, coherent digital agriculture strategies are needed to realize the full potential of these efforts.

The need for a coordinated approach among key ministries and different public entities was further discussed at the meeting in order to pave the way for the digital transformation of agrifood systems, according to FAO’s official website.

The goal of developing digitalization in the agro-industrial complex is to increase the contribution of the industry to the economy by increasing agricultural labor productivity and maximizing the profits of agro-enterprises.

Digital agriculture refers to tools that digitally collect, store, analyze, and share electronic data and/or information along the agricultural value chain.  Sometimes known as “smart farming” or “e-agriculture,” digital agriculture impacts the entire agri-food value chain — before, during, and after on-farm production.