As part of the AgroTwin component of the AGRI CAMP Program, on July 15, 2024, partners of the AgroTwin component from the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center arrived in Armenia․ During the few days of the visit, they shared their experience with the Program specialists and other participants involved in the field. They also discussed with the AgroTwin team all possible scenarios of expected technical challenges. Discussions took place both in the office and in the fields of Gusanagiugh and Karnut communities Shirak marz, which are part of the AgroTwin pilot program.

On July 16, a conference was held, the objective of which was to reveal challenges and opportunities of adopting technologies like GIS and Remote Sensing, AI and Digital Twins in Armenian agriculture.

«At first glance, it may seem surprising that I, as the RA Minister of High-Tech Industry, am participating in this agriculture forum» Minister Mkhitar Hayrapetyan said in his welcome speech, «However, the fact is that we closely cooperate with the RA Ministry of Economy, because nowadays it is impossible to imagine progress in any field, including agriculture, without the use of digital technologies.»

   

The participants of the conference were also welcomed by Arman Khojoyan, Deputy Minister of Economy of Armenia and Rebecca White, Acting Mission Director, USAID/Armenia.

Presentations by colleagues of Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center on the use of digital twins in agriculture were full of interesting insights: Structure and components of an effective digital agriculture team and the role of Texas A&M AgriLife in AgroTwins; UAS-based Plant Phenotyping Pipeline; Utilizing UAS Data in Wheat Breeding; Digital Twin: Highlights for Farm Management and Potential of Satellite Imaging Systems for Crop Monitoring; Yield Estimations.

Presentations of our local partners were also very interesting and usefull: “Digital Twin of Marine Environments: Tool for Blue Growth” by Alen Gasparian Amirkhanian, Director, Acopian Center for Environment. AUA; “Environmental remote sensing. perspective of development in Armenia” by Shushanik Asmaryan, Deputy Director for science/Head of GIS and Remote Sensing Department, Center for Ecological-Noosphere Studies NAS RA and “AgroTwin – Digital Twin Platform for the Armenian Agriculture” by Vardan Urutyan, AgroTwin Team Lead, AGRI CAMP/ICARE.

Mr. Urutyan aptly described the general content of the presentations delivered during the conference as “application of digital technologies in air, water and land”.

Summarizing the conference, ICARE Foundation Director Artur Grigoryan thanked Chief of Party of AGRI CAMP Program Lusine Tadevosyan and the entire team, noting that the AGRI CAMP staff members have been providing impressive results for the Republic of Armenia with their hard work for four years already.

As a reminder: AgroTwin is a new component of the USAID-financed AGRI CAMP Program, the results of which will allow policy makers, farmers, investors and agricultural researchers to model, simulate, plan, analyze for efficient decision making, optimal policy making, for improved food security and making farming more sustainable.

We express our gratitude to conference participants for their enthusiasm and interesting questions!

We also say thank you to our colleges for excellent presentations and fruitful collaboration!

Mahendra Bhandari, Assistant Professor, Project Manager; Jose Landivar, Senior Research Associate; Juan Landivar, Center Director and Professor; Yuri Calil, Assistant Professor & Extension Specialist and Shannon Baker, Wheat Breeding Program Manager, Senior Research Associate; Alen Gasparian Amirkhanian, Director, Acopian Center for Environment, AUA; Shushanik Asmaryan, Deputy Director for science/Head of GIS and Remote Sensing Department, Center for Ecological-Noosphere Studies NAS RA