Following the stocktaking of Armenia’s policy frameworks for climate change adaptation and resilience in agriculture, the webinar focused on Armenia’s priority policy areas for future work under the PROGRESS project:

• Pest, disease and invasive species management; and
• The sustainable use of pesticides and fertilisers.

The webinar’s aim was to review Armenia’s progress, priorities, gaps and needs for support in the two policy areas, to discuss good international practices as well as to foster engagement among public institutions and the private sector.

The discussions were organised in two thematic sessions, one per policy area.

The event gathered approximately 40 participants from Armenian public authorities, including Armenia's Ministry of Economy, Ministry of Environment, and the Food Safety Inspection Body (FSIB); the Armenian National Agrarian University (ANAU); local experts; international experts from Australia, Italy, the Slovak Republic, IMPEL and the OECD; as well as PROGRESS Consortium Partners.

Going forward, the PROGRESS project will provide targeted support to policy drafting in these areas through analysis or capacity building, and develop recommendations based on international good practices.

Documents

Agenda

Summary (Armenian; English)

Presentations and materials

Sesson 1:  Pest, disease and invasive species management

Varsik Martirosyan, Head of the Plant Breeding Department, Ministry of Economy of Armenia:

• Armenia Ministry of Economy presentation

Dr. Andy Sheppard, Chief Research Scientist, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO); Director CSIRO European laboratory; Vice President, OECD Co-operative Research Programme:

• IPBES Invasive Alien Species Management

Gisela Holzgraefe, Ministry for Energy Transition, Agriculture, Environment, Nature and Digitalisation of Land Schleswig-Holstein, Germany; Co-ordinator of an IMPEL project on invasive species:

• IMPEL Project on Invasive Alien Species presentation

Session 2: Sustainable use of pesticides and fertilisers

Varsik Martirosyan, Head of the Plant Breeding Department, Ministry of Economy of Armenia:

• Armenia Ministry of Economy presentation

Carlo Malavolta, formerly responsible for the sustainable agricultural system of Regione Emilia-Romagna Government, Bologna, Italy; Member of the “Guidelines for Integrated Production”, Commission of International Organisation for Biological Control (IOBC)/ West Palaearctic Regional Section (WPRS):

• IOBC-WPRS IP Guidelines presentation
• IOBC-WPRS IP Guideline Soft Fruits 5th edition 2018
• IOBC-WPRS IP Guideline Stone Fruits 5th edition 2019
• IOBC-WPRS Arable Crops Maize

Bronislava Škarbová, Senior Counsellor for Plant Protection Products, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of the Slovak Republic:

• Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of the Slovak Republic, Plant Protection Products presentation
• Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of the Slovak Republic, Fertilisers presentation

Sylvie Poret, Principal Administrator, Environment, Health and Safety, OECD:

• OECD Pesticides Programme presentation