News release issued November 25, 2000, effective immediately. This release and photos of Steve Upson are available for download on the Noble Foundation Web site at www.noble.org.

Note: This event occurred in 2000. Please see our news releases section for upcoming events.

Azerbaijan Visit Offers Agricultural Problems, Potential for NF Horticulturist

Azerbaijan. For most, the name of the small Eurasian country stirs vague thoughts of cities of oil rigs, an ancient sea-faring country vying for a place in the new world order, or an exotic culture nestled between Iran and Russia.

But when Noble Foundation horticulturist Steve Upson visited the tiny nation in October, he was doing a lot more than sightseeing. He was a man on a mission — an agricultural mission.

Upson and four other Oklahomans and a Texan recently visited the country, about half the size of Oklahoma, on the Caspian Sea to help private sector agricultural enterprises become economical once more.

Upson will present a free public program on his visit to Azerbaijan at 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 7 in the Kruse Auditorium at the Noble Foundation, 2510 Sam Noble Parkway (state Highway 199). The program is called "People of the Land."

Once under the umbrella of the Soviet Union, Azerbaijan found its once fertile markets withered to nothing after the Union's collapse.

"The majority of the country was involved in agriculture," Upson said, "but when the markets dried up, they lost their jobs. There are people just standing on the streets now with no jobs. Their agriculture has fallen into disarray."

Upson took a message he hopes will assist in salvaging the country's agricultural economy — hoop house gardening. It's a gardening technique he's made familiar around Oklahoma and other states, and he thinks it can make a big difference in Azerbaijan as well by extending the growing season for crops.

"Most people live off their land," Upson said he found during his tour. "Almost everyone has some kind of a small orchard or garden to help feed their family. What they don't grow themselves they obtain in markets. Every town has a farmers' market. It's incredible.

"Most of the farmers' markets we see in Oklahoma pale in comparison to what we saw over there in terms of diversity."

Crops grown in Azerbaijan include walnuts and hazelnuts in the north, grapes in the central and southern regions, and "vegetables just everywhere." One familiar Oklahoma crop Upson said might do well there is pecans.

"The land is fertile and the Russians established an irrigation system decades ago," Upson said. "The closest thing to Azerbaijan here in the United States is probably the San Joaquin Valley in Southern California. It (Azerbaijan) is a Garden of Eden over there. It's just beautiful."

He said livestock of all kinds — including cattle, goats, sheep, and turkeys — roamed freely, even in the cities.

One group of Oklahoma businessmen, including some from Carter County, already has a foot in the door in Azerbaijan, with the oil industry. But now interest is shifting to other types of industry in the small country, and that includes agriculture.

Dr. Susan Smith Nash, program director with the University of Oklahoma's International Development program through the College of Continuing Education, headed the agricultural study and consultation team's tour to Azerbaijan. Although sponsored through the U.S. Agency for International Development, the group was only allowed to deal with the private sector due to government restrictions against the other country.

Upson said a typical day included meeting with agri-business owners in the morning, tour the businesses after lunch, then discuss possible solutions to the many problems plaguing the agricultural field.

"Almost all of them, to a person, said their primary needs were access to markets and access to production credit," Upson said. "Unfortunately, those are the toughest things to deal with."

Although a return to agricultural prosperity is of primary concern in Azerbaijan, Upson said the tiny nation faces other problems that must be addressed as well — no vehicle emission controls has resulted in heavy smog in the larger cities, the roads are "horrific," and the infrastructure "is shot."

Shifting the focus of the Azerbaijan people to the problems and wading in with hard work could alleviate these problems as well, though, Upson said.

"What we observed is that the people are very hard-working," Upson said. "These people have a lot of dignity and pride. It's evident in the way they dress. Whether they're young or old, man or woman, sick or well, they dress up. They wear their dress clothes all the time."

Upson hopes to return to Azerbaijan to continue his work there, possibly in one of the many refugee camps.

"The hoop house growing system would permit many of the refugee farmers to increase their income by extending the growing/market season for many commonly grown fruit and vegetable crops," Upson predicts enthusiastically.

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The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, headquartered in Ardmore, Okla., is a non-profit organization conducting agricultural, forage biotechnological, and plant biology research; providing grants to numerous non-profit charitable, educational and health organizations; and assisting farmers and ranchers through educational and consultative agricultural programs.

To learn more, check out the Noble Foundation Web site at http://www.noble.org.

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