BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 8. Starting this
year, Azerbaijan will implement a farmer rating system for the
allocation of agricultural subsidies, Agriculture Minister Majnun
Mammadov told reporters, following the high-level roundtable
"Harmony in Action: Partnering for Climate-Resilient Agriculture,''
held as part of Baku Climate Action Week, Trend's correspondent reports from the
event.
The minister noted that the farmer rating system has been in a
pilot phase since last year and will be implemented in the subsidy
allocation process starting this year.
According to him, the farmer rating is based on three main
criteria.
“The first is the economic benefit and economic value of the
crops produced by the farmer; the second is the agronomic measures
and methods used, as well as how modern the crop management
practices are; and the third, of course, is the implementation of
climate-resilient agricultural practices,” Mammadov noted.
The minister emphasized that a farmer’s final score is
determined based on these three areas, and farmers are evaluated
according to the information they provide in the “Electronic
Agriculture” information system.
Mammadov stated that the farmer’s rating will be taken into
account during the initial stage of providing advance
subsidies.
“This year, for the first time, we will take this into account
when providing advance subsidies. When granting advance subsidies,
we will consider farmers cultivating land ranging from 5 to 100
hectares, as well as the types of crops specified in the decision
of the Agricultural Subsidies Council for annual crops,” the
minister said.
According to him, one of the main criteria in this process will
be the score a farmer has earned on the rating system.
“The key is to prioritize farmers who have earned 30 or more
points on the rating system,” Mammadov added.
