Pluzhne Vocational Agricultural Lyceum will take part in the grant project “Knowledge Transfer on Organic Farming and Climate Change in Agriculture”
Kmelnytskyj, 7.10.2021. A press conference on the start of the grant project “Transfer of knowledge on organic farming and climate change in agriculture” was held today in the Regional State Administration. The discussion was joined by Deputy Head of the Regional State Administration Volodymyr Yuriev, Chairman of the Board of the Multicultural Ukraine NGO, Martin Reuther, Assistant of the Education and Culture Attaché of the US Embassy in Ukraine Victoria Mykhaylenko, Ritter Bio Agro Project Manager Konstantin Sichnoy, Deputy Chairman of the Regional Council Valentyn Sokolyuk, Senior Lecturer of the Department of Soil Science and Head of the Grant Office of the University of the National University of Water Management and Environmental Engineering Alla Kucherova and other guests.
Congratulating the participants of the event, Volodymyr Yuryev said: “We are extremely pleased to have the opportunity to access the latest information and new knowledge about modern technology in the agricultural sector, namely in organic production. I am convinced that such experience will help the representatives of the agricultural sector to bring their activities closer to world standards. ” The official assured that today there is a full understanding of the Regional Administration and support for this project, and expressed hope that this first pilot project will be successful and will continue in the future with other institutions.
It should be noted that the grant project “Knowledge Transfer on Organic Farming and Climate Change in Agriculture” will be implemented within the academic and educational programs of the US government in the field of public diplomacy by the NGO “Multicultural Ukraine” (Zdolbuniv) in 2021-2022. The key task of the project is to transfer the latest knowledge from the University of Maryland (USA) to agricultural vocational education institutions of Ukraine, and the main partner of the project on the Ukrainian side is Pluzhne Vocational Agricultural Lyceum, which will serve as a basis for modern centers of agricultural competence.
According to the head of NGO “Multicultural Ukraine”, Martin Reuther, the project focuses on the transfer of knowledge about organic farming, climate change and agriculture. It will also help build capacity for vocational schools and prospective students in Ukraine. As part of the project, teachers and students will be trained and given practical tasks on farms and in plant laboratories.
“Pluzhne Vocational Agricultural Lyceum is our first project of cooperation with Ukraine. That is why we are glad to share and implement it in Ukraine. We hope that this project will be the first point of long-term cooperation and partnership, “said Martin Reuther.
The project will develop teaching materials for teachers and students on various practical topics in organic farming, its relationship to climate change, and advanced approaches to greening agriculture, which are being researched and implemented by American educators. With the help of scientists from the National University of Water Management and Environmental Engineering, the agronomic disciplines of the lyceum will be supplemented with topics on organic agriculture, ecological and water issues of agriculture.
In addition, the Ritter Bio Agro business group will take an active part in the implementation of the project, on the farms of which only organic methods of growing crops have been used for more than 7 years. In particular, the lyceum plans to prepare a demo field for growing organic fruits, vegetables and medicinal plants. Leading national and foreign companies – suppliers of seeds, equipment and biological products will also join the process. Pupils, students, teachers of the lyceum and the university will jointly undergo field practice on the farms of the Ritter Bio Agro group and in the plant laboratory of the project partner. Communication support will be provided by the Pluzhne Territorial Community and the Khmelnytsky Oblast Regional Development Agency.
In the future, the project will be presented to the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine in order to make changes in the training of professionals and specialists for the agricultural sector of the country.
(Source: Khmelytskyi Regional State Administration)
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In the afternoon we went to Khoten village, where Pluzhne Vocational Agricultural Lyceum is located. There we presented the project to teachers and students and discussed the next steps according to the action plan. As we have become already permanent guests it was a friendly atmosphere and we had good talks also after the official part of the meeting, which was a great ending of an intentsive working day.
