It is pleasant to introduce myself. I am Nazar Nurzoda - Deputy Director of the Institute of Horticulture, Viticulture and Vegetable Growing of the Tajik Academy of Agricultural Sciences (TAAS).

TAAS is the scientific and coordination center of agrarian science in Tajikistan. TAAS coordinates national agricultural research and extension services in various field of agriculture. There are eight government projects being implemented and I am responsible for monitoring of those projects. I am also in charge of training programs for Master and PhD students in the institute.

I majored in irrigation of agricultural crops and I have visited some countries including Greece, Russia, China, India, Turkey, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. It was my first time to visit Korea and I was very glad to participate the 2023 KAPEX Midterm Academy.

The 2023 KAPEX Midterm Academy was hosted by Korea Rural Economy Institute (KREI), which started from November 6 and has been completed on December 1, 2023. The Academy was comprised of four programs: lecture by Korean experts, field trip, establishing an ODA proposal and cultural experience.

Professional lecture by Korean agricultural experts covered various topics including rural development policy, development of agricultural cooperative, importance of using bio-fertilizer, etc. and expanded my knowledge and experience of agriculture and rural development.

Through the field trips, I had a chance to visit Korea’s renowned agriculture-related institutions/organizations: Rural Development Administration (RDA), Korea National University of Agriculture and Fisheries (KNUAF), Naju Pear Cooperatives, etc. The field trip was useful and practical to see how the policies have been actually implemented in the real world.

At the end of the training, participants were required to establish and present their own ODA proposal about country specific topic as a result of the training. It was meaningful to review what we have learned from the training and analyze some issue we currently face regarding agricultural and rural development, suggesting the policy direction.

The most impressive thing about the academy was a question and answer time after the programs. Every time at the end of the lecture or field trip, we were able to ask some questions and share some thought about the topic and lecturers would love to receive and answer questions from us, which facilitate a fruitful discussion and mutual learning.

The KAPEX Midterm Academy was the best training ever in my life which I could never forget. I will remember what I learned through the lectures and field trips, people that I met including great lecturers and colleagues and Naju city, where KREI is located.

The KAPEX academy has changed the way that I see the world. I will fully utilize these experiences and lessons-learned from the training to contribute to development of agriculture in Tajikistan, especially educating young specialists.

I prepared an ODA proposal and the topic was development of processing agricultural products in the Republic of Tajikistan with my colleague, Bezhan Rajabov.

The project title is ‘Achieving Sustainable Processing of Agricultural Products in the Republic of Tajikistan’ and its main objectives are reducing post-harvest losses, increasing agricultural product storing and processing capabilities and capacity building of relevant stakeholders.

Even though Tajikistan has the potential to develop agro-processing sector thanks to its temperate climate, plentiful water resource and abundant agriculture production, still it has high dependence on food imports because of lack of processing technology and infrastructure.

The major activities of this project include: building storage, educating proper post-harvest management technology, constructing an agricultural processing center, and enhancing capacity of farmers and government officials. We expect that Tajikistan will decrease imports of food and increase income of farmers and ultimately exports of food and agricultural products through this project.

All of the lecturers have expertise in their field and great communication skills. I am grateful to all the lecturers and those who organized the excursion.

Besides training, I found the secret of how Korea has become a developed country so rapidly. Korean people are passionate about everything they do and I think that leads to fast development of Korea. I could say this is kind of culture of Korea and you can see this aspect in every daily life in Korea. When they study, work, and even play, they are always energetic and passionate and they are also kind and friendly.

Another interesting thing about Korea is people, in general, are visually good-looking. If you walk on the street of Korea, you can easily find that most of people wear trendy clothes with perfect make-up. The way how Korean take care of their appearance is on another level. It is said that such manner comes from basic politeness. The better you dress yourself, the better impression you will make on others.