News

GIZ handed over equipment worth to GEL 113, 000 to the Soil Research Laboratory

The German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) donated equipment worth GEL 113,000 to the Soil Research Laboratory of the Scientific-Research Center of Agriculture of the of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia. Nitrogen analyzer, drying cabinets, pH-meters, analyzer of the automatic granometer analysis and various tools allow for more sample examination and increase laboratory productivity.

The new equipment in the soil research laboratory have viewed Khatia Tsilosani, Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture, Levan Ujmajuridze, Director of the Scientific-Research Center of Agriculture, Karl Friedrich Testensen, Head of the GIZ Georgian Office, and the representatives of the program "ECOserve".

"The soil research laboratory of our scientific-research center has a rather strong base not only in the region, but also in the world. The laboratory actively collaborates with the German Agency for International Cooperation and is involved in a soil research project regarding forest. Within the framework of this project, trainings were conducted for the staff, as well as the transfer of modern laboratory equipment, which further increases the capacity of the laboratory, "- said the Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture, Khatia Tsilosani.

Within the framework of the National Forest Inventory, the Soil Research Laboratory, according to the international classification, provides the description-registration of the existing soils in forests and conducts laboratory research. In the first stage, the soils under the pristine forests are being studied. Under the project, the German side funded the training of 4 field specialists; German scientists are constantly involved in the implementation of the project and consult with Georgian colleagues.

The results of field and laboratory analyzes will be stored in a unified electronic database. More than 300 samples have already been taken, to which, by the end of the year, another 600-700 samples will be added. The first phase of the project will be completed by the end of 2020, and the second phase will examine the soils under degraded forests to determine the effects of human impact on the same type of forest.

The modern equipment was donated to the Soil Research Laboratory under the program “Management of natural resources and safeguarding of ecosystem services for sustainable rural development in the South Caucasus” (ECOserve) and is being conducted under the auspices of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).