The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has handed over a modern mobile pasture monitoring laboratory, worth more than 6.6 million Kyrgyz soms, to the Veterinary Service for Livestock Development, Pastures and Feed under the Ministry of Agriculture of Kyrgyzstan. The equipment was provided through the CS FOR project, which is funded by the Green Climate Fund.
Beeld: © Free use / Kyrgyzstan
The transfer of the mobile laboratory is intended to support the development of a digital system for monitoring and assessing pasture conditions, while improving the effectiveness of pasture resource management.
The mobile laboratory includes:
- An off-road vehicle
- A multispectral drone
- Laptops and computer equipment
- Solar panels
- A generator
- A portable energy storage system
- Field equipment required for operations in remote mountainous areas
Improving pasture monitoring
According to FAO, the new equipment will enable specialists to carry out pasture monitoring more efficiently, identify degraded areas, collect and analyze spatial data using drones and GIS technologies, and make informed decisions based on modern assessment methods.
Cooperation agreement signed
Beeld: © FAO Kyrgyzstan
During the handover ceremony, FAO and the Veterinary Service for Livestock Development, Pastures and Feed signed a cooperation agreement.
The agreement provides for the creation of a unified automated pasture monitoring and assessment system in Kyrgyzstan. Existing digital solutions—including the pasture monitoring database, a mobile application, and the Electronic Jaiyt Committee platform—will be integrated into a single system.
Digital tools and capacity building
The project also includes the improvement of digital tools and training for specialists in the use of multispectral drones, satellite imagery, and the SEPAL, Earth Map, and Collect Earth platforms.
Oleg Guchgeldiyev, FAO Representative in Kyrgyzstan, said the initiative will promote science-based pasture management and support evidence-based decision-making using reliable data.
He noted that 2026, declared by the United Nations as the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists, is intended to draw global attention to the vital role of rangelands in ensuring food security, conserving biodiversity, and adapting to climate change.
Strategic importance of pastures
Ilich Marsbek uulu, First Deputy Minister of Water Resources, Agriculture and Processing Industry, stressed that pastures are one of Kyrgyzstan's most important natural resources. He said that their conservation and effective management remain key priorities of the country's state policy.
FAO also reported that, as part of the project, 27 community landscape management groups have already been established in pilot areas across the country. These groups assist local governments in monitoring, assessing, and planning the sustainable use of pasture resources.