Winemakers and viticulturists from Ateni municipality of Georgia joined Farmers Field School established at the Scientific Research Centre of Agriculture (SRCA) at Jighaura, where about 500 grapevine varieties, including restored ancient Georgian varieties are collected. At the Jighaura plant nursery, grapevine experts shared their experience in vineyard maintenance with the participants of the training. The Farmer Field School was established as a part of the Agriculture and Rural Development Project funded by Austrian Development Cooperation (ADC) and implemented by FAO.

15 farmers from Ateni Municipality participated in the training courses covering following topics: wine varieties, vineyard maintenance, soil preparation, seedling production, wine forming, pruning, plant protection, cellar arrangement technologies and its maintenance. Apart from the training, the farmers had an opportunity to join the degustation of wine made from the rare, restored Georgian grapevine variety.

“It is crucial that the entire project and Farmers Field Schools in particular, use group teaching methodology that fits the farmers’ needs and is planned with the involvement of the farmers. Building up on the preliminary research, we plan these trainings according to the most important topics the participants want to learn about. This time the farmers had an opportunity to learn the best practices of the vineyard maintenance available in Georgia,’’ said Beka Dzadzamia, FAO project manager.  

FAO, along with the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia introduced Farmer Field School innovative method in 2020. The method was implemented in targeted communities of Shida Kartli, Racha-Leckhumi and Kvemo Svaneti regions. In total, 24 various trainings have been held in winemaking and viticulture, beekeeping, harvesting and vegetable storage so far.

Visiting the Jighaura research centre proved to be fruitful for Soso Vanishvili, the founder of Chateau Ateni winery: “I would particularly highlight the planning part of the session where I learned new approaches. The training was important, we learned a lot of new things. The participants asked a lot of questions and we got complete answers,” Soso Vanishvili stated.

The winemakers and viticulturists were introduced to the key points about vineyard maintenance, winemaking and cellar technologies by the director of SRCA, Levan Ujmajuridze, and the head of winemaking and viticulture of SRCA, Davit Chichua. Ujmajuridze also highlighted the importance of reviving and restoring forgotten Georgian grapevines.

„The interest towards the forgotten, rediscovered and restored Georgian grapevine varieties is huge. Entrepreneurs and farmers who visit our centre mostly aim at getting acquainted to the varieties; they do want to learn about related technologies and all the other directions, for example, to see grapevine pruning and forming in the field, in practise, so they can implement these methods in their own farms afterwards.”

Farmer Field Schools are one of the components of the Agriculture and Rural Development Project. It also includes the grants system. In the last 3 years more than 600 farmers have received community or individual support.

The Agriculture and Rural Development Project in Georgia has been implemented since 2018 and supports the communities as well as individuals to strengthen their capacities and prompt their active involvement in the local development.