On 24–26 September 2025, the National Paying Agency (NPA), Lithuania, invited the paying agencies of the Baltic States and Poland to the conference “Innovations and Technologies – the Driving Force of the Strategic Plan for Agriculture and Rural Development 2023–2027”. Agricultural progress, good farming practices, and the use of artificial intelligence in the paying agency activities were the main topics discussed by the conference participants this year.
The conference was dedicated to discussing current issues in the agricultural sector, innovations and sharing experience in support administration.
NPA Director Fortunatas Dirginčius welcomed the conference participants and emphasized that today, in the field of agriculture, when implementing the Strategic Plan for Agriculture and Rural Development of Lithuania 2023–2027 (Strategic Plan), many tasks are being taken over by robots and automated systems: “Modern methods of plant fertilisation, automated processes, innovations that allow monitoring farm activities and performing their analysis are no longer the future. Farmers are already using such tools today.”
The presentations delivered during the conference included those by NPA’s Director Fortunatas Dirginčius presenting digital solutions in implementing the Strategic Plan, by the Control Department Director on ALNSIS 1.0 and 2.0 regarding control and administrative systems, followed by presentations of the Latvian paying agency representative about shared Earth Observation platforms, insights from private innovation providers (on image classification, Sentinel-2 image use). Representatives of agencies from Estonia and Poland held discussions on the digital and information technology solutions used in their activities and stressed their importance in administering support measures.
In addition, during the conference a cooperation agreement was signed with the Polish Paying Agency (ARMA). A particularly relevant topic was discussed too – the conclusion of the 2014–2020 Rural Development and Aghriculture programming period. Conference participants shared the challenges they are facing and looked for ways to overcome them.
Active and meaningful discussions with colleagues from the Latvian, Estonian, and Polish paying agencies were especially valuable in seeking joint solutions on how to improve the support administration process and ensure smooth and high-quality agency work.
The presentation delivered by the NPA Deputy Director Tomas Orlickas focused on the NPA’s international projects, the interplay of support measures under the Strategic Plan, and lessons learned through its implementation. The international projects were presented as elements integrated in an overall digital ecosystem that includes parcel delineation, crop classification, and remote sensing, supporting Lithuania’s CAP Strategic Plan and more biodiversity-sensitive agricultural policy. In his presentation the NPA Deputy Director also focused on the international projects as part of a wider area modeling and monitoring system being developed by the National Paying Agency, highlighting the OASIS project among them:
Interreg Latvia – Lithuania OASIS project – with its purpose to enable more effective use of Earth observation and artificial intelligence to improve agriculture, land monitoring, and public sector services. The project activities include:
- Reduction of errors, penalties, and the number of inspections via better monitoring.
- Integration of an AI tool (on-demand service) into the Lithuanian and Latvian Paying Agencies’ GIS infrastructure.
- Publishing open data and involving other sectors beyond agriculture.
As a result, the two-year project will be delivering enhanced imagery, parcel delineation outputs, and integration into existing systems. The enhanced satellite imagery (Sentinel-2, 1-metre resolution) will support automatic delineation of parcel boundaries. Among other advantages, this will also significantly reduce the administrative burden both for the farmers and the paying agencies.
Representatives of agencies from Estonia and Poland held discussions on the digital and information technology solutions used in their activities and stressed their importance in administering support measures.
In addition, during the conference a cooperation agreement was signed with the Polish Paying Agency (ARMA). A particularly relevant topic was discussed too – the conclusion of the 2014–2020 Rural Development and Aghriculture programming period. Conference participants shared the challenges they are facing and looked for ways to overcome them.
Active and meaningful discussions with colleagues from the Latvian, Estonian, and Polish paying agencies were especially valuable in seeking joint solutions on how to improve the support administration process and ensure smooth and high-quality agency work.
