If there’s one thing wheat farmers agree on, it is the importance of sowing high-quality seeds. More than 50 farmers in Tajikistan last week attended an FAO field day where new wheat varieties were introduced – part of a project to improve access to high-quality seeds by producing them right in Tajikistan.

The FAO project – funded by the Government of Austria – is being undertaken in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture of Tajikistan and the Seed Association of Tajikistan. It provides technical support to strengthen the capacity of seed farms and small-scale farmers to produce high-quality seed for wheat, the country’s staple food crop. It will also cover pulses, oilseed and fodder crops.