European Union's DevRAM Part I project completed mission

Chisinau, 1 July /MOLDPRES/- The Ministry of Agriculture, Regional Development and Environment, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research, in partnership with the Pro Didactica Educational Center, the Austrian Donau Soja Association and the Austrian Development Agency made review on the European Union DevRAM Project, Part I, 2018- 2021. The beneficiaries of the 60 activities supported by the European project were agricultural technical vocational education institutions in the country.

Among the most important achievements, marked during the collaboration period, are: elaboration and validation of eight occupational standards and eight qualification standards for the Quality standards in the agri-food and Organic agriculture; about 600 participations of managerial and teaching staff in continuous training programs; endowment with furniture and equipment of two continuous training sections (Center of Excellence in Horticulture and Agricultural Technologies from Țaul and Center of Excellence in Viticulture and Vinification from Stăuceni) and seven practical training rooms; developing and launching adult continuing education programs; creation of seven virtual tours and 11 web pages of agricultural institutions; elaboration of 15 business plans, including five implemented with the financial support of the project; participation of over 200 students and teachers in national and international exhibitions, etc.

Ambassador of Austria to Moldova Stella Avallone said that Austria and Moldova are closely linked through a variety of activities, in the field of economy, security sector, social affairs, education and culture. "Development cooperation focuses on employment and inclusion education, the environment, water and climate change, as well as governance, the rule of law and peacebuilding. In 1997- 2019, Austria's projects in these fields amounted to about 58 million euros, and Austria will continue its support for Moldova in the next period ", Stella Avallone said.

"Investing in the development of rural areas in the Republic of Moldova is a key priority for the European Union, especially by providing opportunities to accelerate economic growth by supporting the business, research and education sectors," representative of the EU Delegation to Moldova Gintautas Baranauskas said.

In the last three and a half years, with the support of the European Union through the DevRAM Part I project, Moldovan research institutions have participated in eight international research and development events and benefited from modern equipment, increasing their capacity to supply the market with new varieties of soybeans and more efficient production techniques.

At the same time, agricultural technical vocational education institutions have strengthened their organizational capacities, and 13 Moldovan soybean producers and one trader have been certified according to the Donau Soja standard and a Moldovan soybean processing company has been certified according to the GMO-free product standard, making available to Moldovan consumers the first certified local soy products. The Republic of Moldova managed to access a new destination on the European market, the project facilitating the export of organic soybeans to Spain.

Thanks to the project, Moldovan agricultural research and development institutions have signed three cooperation agreements with their counterparts in Bulgaria, Serbia and Romania, as well as the National Action Plan for the Development of Soybean Production, integrated in the National Strategy for Agricultural Development.

photo: MADRM