Abstract only

Approximately 4.0 to 4.5 million tons of grain annually are required to satisfy the internal demand for bread and flour products in Azerbaijan. To achieve this production level, the total arable land (about 1.613 thousand ha according to Mamedov, 2003) should be cultivated only under cereals and this is impossible under the available cultivation technologies and post-Soviet conditions. The agrarian reform carried out in Azerbaijan has even aggravated the agricultural situation in the country. As a result of the reform 1.824.000 families have become owners of land plots. The size of the plots varies between 1.5 and 2.0 hectares per family, depending on the land available in the region. Such land fragmentation has its negative consequences: .fences, roads between the plots, plots allocated to irrigation ditches -all these are the factors affecting usable land area and soil fertility; .the impossibility of applying crop rotation on small plots eventually leads to gradual deterioration of soil fertility; .the impossibility of utilizing agricultural machinery leads to manual labour which, in tem, raises the cost of production and reduces crop productivity; .the impossibility of leaving such plots under fallow that will also have a negative impact on soil fertility; .the incapability of land users to apply a set of agrotechnical, agrochemical, ameliorative, phytosanitary and other soil protection measures due to their limited financial and material resources, that leads to the continued degradation of soil fertility. At present, efforts of the farmers under their scarce financial and material-technical availabilities are directed only at ensuring subsistence farming. Cereals are the main crops cultivated on their land plots. The above-described situation cannot continue for long, since it leads to deterioration of soil and the respective decrease in crop yields. Among the main reasons of productivity slowdown are the shortage of nutrient elements and humidity in soil, power deficiency, the absence of irrigation systems, etc. At the same time, intensive desertification has been lately observed on the cropland. Limited financial and material-technical resources of local land-users are also the entailing cause of such process. The moisture deficit in the topsoil of the unused lands leads eventually to a gradual destruction of soil structural elements. "Dusting" of the topsoil and seasonal winds, which blow out the dust, contribute to degradation of the fertile layer. (Babayev, 1984) Diseases and pests of cereals have been also widely spread lately. In particular, wireworms, grain ground beetles and grain anisoplia have destroyed about 100,000 hectares of wheat fields in the Re- public (in Sheki-Zakatala area, as well as in Barda and Samukh districts). There are also other reasons. One of them is associated with the fact that most land-users lack elementary farming skills. They are not aware of simple crop management practices (e.g., soil preparation for planting, selection of varieties and seed treatment, planting rate, irrigation practices, and methods to control weeds, pests and diseases). What are the remedies of the existing situa- tion? .Development of new varieties meeting modern requirements from local germplasm including the 296 forms of 14 species of wild and cultivated wheat widely spread in the Republic; .Implementation of an objective-oriented training program concerning joint activities of the state, governmental and non-governmental organi- zations, i .e. the formation of a new entrepreneurial way of thinking ("New Farmers") among the rural population through seminars, trainings, conferences, demonstration fields and other activities carried out by different organizations; .Establishment of farmer unions to alleviate disadvantages of land fragmentation. Thus, the world experience shows that the farms consisting of land plots less than 50 hectares, where crop rotation is impossible, cannot operate profitably; .Application of new technologies and rele- asing high-yielding varieties adapted for all specific soil-climatic conditions on the territory of the Re- public.

English

0409|AGRIS 0401|AL-Wheat Program

Juan Carlos Mendieta

CIMMYT Publications Collection