OREANDA-NEWS. On 11 March 2009 was announced, that a meeting of the Council of Elders of Turkmenistan took place in the city of Turkmenabat on 6 March. The council discussed issues related to further reformation of agriculture. Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhammedov delivered a keynote speech at the meeting.

The Council of Elders convened in a new building of Ruhiyet Palace which was inaugurated yesterday. Elders, village workers, as well as members of Mejlis and the government of Turkmenistan, governors of provinces, cities and districts, representatives of public organizations gathered there. Heads of the diplomatic missions and international organizations accredited in Turkmenistan, members of the World Turkmen Humanitarian Association, foreign businessmen as well as mass media were also invited to attend the forum, the Turkmen State News Agency (TDH) said.

In his speech, the head of state noted that it was a right moment to launch comprehensive reforms in agriculture where there are many untapped resources.

"Despite the progress achieved, the legal-normative basis regulating the development of agriculture does not meet the requirements of time and new industrial-economic relations. Not all new laws are being implemented in full," Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov said.

"We need to gradually introduce market relations in the agricultural sector, and make farmers feel like owners of their land, maintain farmer unions and private farms," the president emphasized.

The president highlighted priority tasks such as raising profitability of farm production, development of entrepreneurship in villages, raising soil fertility and crop capacity, including by means of well-thought crop rotation, using elite seeds and biotechnologies, climate conditions of regions.

Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov said the state would continue the work on creating a reliable chemical basis for the agro-industrial sector, improving the ameliorative condition of lands, the efficient use of water, introducing water saving technologies, and developing live stock selection and breeding.

According to the head of state, science should play a special role in the development of agriculture. It should become "a vanguard of progress and advanced technologies, and have a serious effect on development of villages and direct impact on the effectiveness of farm production."

The Council of Elders will convene for its next meeting in the city of Dashoguz in 2010.