Tropentag, September 18 - 20, 2019 in Kassel "Filling gaps and removing traps for sustainable resources development"

TOPAS Erasmus+ Project: Sources, Bottlenecks and Outlook of Farm Data Availability for Education and in Armenia

Armenian National Agrarian University, Fac. of Agribusiness and Economics, Chair of Finances and Accountancy, Armenia

Abstract

The effectiveness of agrarian management is also conditioned by the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the data collected and used in the organisation of agricultural business, as well as in carrying out research activities within relevant educational programs.
The larger the scale of the agricultural business or the scope of the survey, the greater the role of quality information, based on which decisions are to be taken and the necessary measures to be taken.
The agricultural data system is a continuous process of collecting relevant information indicators when analyzing, planning and implementing effective operational and administrative decisions for different aspects of the farming business.
The quality of data required in agrarian management is largely dependent on the criteria that should be maintained during the collection and processing of agricultural data.
These include data integrity, reliability, maturity, availability, compliance and compatibility.
The information is a complete set of data that reduces uncertainty in any area. In fact, uncertainty is a risk, so it can be stated that the risk of agricultural sector in Armenia is conditioned not only by seasonality, peculiarities of climatic conditions and other objective reasons, but also due to lack of data in accordance with the above-mentioned criteria.
The agrarian sector in Armenia is officially handled by the National Statistical Committee, which annually publishes data on the agricultural sector, but often these data are averaged. As for concrete farm data, unfortunately, there is no base in Armenia, which creates a number of organisational, administrative and supervisory issues in that area. As a result, incomplete farmer data hinder farmer business efficiency assessment and proper presentation of investment projects.
The scarcity of the farming data and its non-coordinated nature have its negative impact on education as well. The Armenian National Agrarian University, being the sole industry specialisation institution in the country, tries to maximise the academic / scientific-production practices of its students and scientific research of the employees properly, but the data-related problems hinder the effective organisation of targeted activities. Data collected in practice and research are usually not systematized and do not summarise in the general information database; data collection is carried out with different methods and principles, which causes problems for reliable and well-grounded analyzes.
Nevertheless, it should be noted that Agrarian University, in collaboration with Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Sciences, uses the advanced experience of agrarian data collection, processing and application within the "Agrarian Management" International Master Program: the lecturer visits 5-8 German farms in the year with students, where personally meets with the farmer, collects reliable information on which they make the necessary calculations. Additionally, the TOPAS programme is a continuation of development, as this programme allows to develop current curricula based on practical studies and to define criteria for effective data collection in the agricultural sector.
This article deals with the possibility of raising the farm data collection process in the Republic of Armenia, the issues related to it, and the efficiency of the data collection process.

Keywords: Agrarian management, agricultural business, educational program, farming data

Contact Address: Arman Tonikyan, Armenian National Agrarian University, Fac. of Agribusiness and Economics, Chair of Finances and Accountancy, Eriwan, Armenia, e-mail: arman.tonikyanyahoo.com