The Republic of Moldova has been working on modernizing its agriculture for years. Against that background, HollandDoor organised a learning and inspiration study tour on smart agriculture in September 2023. A delegation of the Technical University of Moldova, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industries, delegates from sector organisations and national consultants got acquainted with newest Dutch technologies in data-driven farming, precision agriculture, drones, GPS, AI and more. Furthermore they saw best practices of Centers of Excellence, mainly based on strong cooperation between knowledge institutions, the government and the private sector. Host organisations were Aeres University of Applied Sciences, Living Lab ‘salination’ and ’sweet water farming’, Farm of the Future of Wageningen University & Research, HAS green academy, Agxeed, Jacob van den Borne potato farm, Fruit Tech Campus and RoboHouse @TU Delft. The Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality gave full support.
With high satisfaction the delegation went home, ready to implement what they learned in their Centre of Excellence in Smart Agriculture (CoESA) in which Smart Irrigation, Agricultural Drones, Agricultural Mechatronics and Software & Sensors come together. Next to that, the delegates are eager to strengthen the cooperation with the Netherlands, not least with support of the newly established Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Chisinau, early 2023.
This study tour was part of the Rural Competitiveness and Resilience Activity (RCRA), implemented by Chemonics International in Moldova and funded by USAID. The goal of this program is to stimulate a sustainable and inclusive recovery from the regional crisis brought on by the latest Russian invasion of Ukraine. Acceleration of an inclusive, climate-resilient economic development and stimulation of the competitiveness of key economic sectors, including the wine industry and high value agriculture, are priorities in the program.
For more information, please contact Jos Leeters.
