Agriculture has always been a cornerstone of the American economy.
The LSU AgCenter is working with its Armenian counterparts to provide training and assistance to local agriculture workers in their country.
The goal of the AgCenter’s ongoing effort is to improve the overall safety and quality of Armenia’s agriculture sector for international and domestic markets.
The Republic of Armenia is a small, landlocked, former state of the Soviet Union, and has had its share of economic hardships as one of the poorest countries in Eurasia.
After the Soviet Union collapsed, most of the country’s markets fell into despair.
Agriculture is one of the most important sectors of the Armenian economy, and the AgCenter is making efforts to help the country’s farmers keep up.
Director of international programs for the AgCenter David Picha said the AgCenter began food safety programs eight years ago on a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“We’re trying to educate and implement programs that will allow the Armenian growers and agriprocessors opportunities to market their products in more regional export markets and more long distance European and U.S. export markets,” Picha said.
And educate and implement, they did.
The AgCenter partnered with the Armenian Center for Agribusiness and Rural Development to be the liaison between themselves and the local farmers in need of help. Instead of the AgCenter traveling to Armenia, training locals and leaving, CARD is able to carry out the AgCenter’s work on a day-to-day basis.
Picha said the AgCenter has had success in Armenia already. He said the country’s exports have risen and Armenia is more compliant with international standards.
Even though the AgCenter team stays in the country for about a week at a time, there are many opportunities for individual, hands-on training and workshops involving Armenian farmers. Many AgCenter employees travel to Armenia to provide their assistance and expertise to locals.
Meat science professor Ken Mcmillin said he’s seen Armenia’s dairy sector grow and produce more “value-added products.”
“Instead of selling fluid milk, they are starting to make cheese and yogurt and those type of products,” Mcmillin said. “Now they have cooperatives that actually assist the farmers in milk collection and in their breeding programs so that they’re breeding better cows that produce more milk.”
Mcmillin said when the farmers produce more milk, it brings more income to the farmers. Once they have more income, the farmers are able to purchase more feed, insecticides and vaccines to fight disease.
Now that farmers have more income, it will improve the rural economy.
Mcmillin said he feels obligated to use his talents and help Armenia practice food safety and grow its economy.
“I think we can use our expertise to make the world a better place,” Mcmillin said.