COVID-19 has seriously disrupted our lives in just a few months, endangering the well-being of billions of people around the world and raising a central issue in ensuring our own biological and food security. In this regard, the World Bank predicts that the global economy will contract by more than 5%, which will be the deepest recession since the Second World War. Initially in the spring, in order to control the new coronavirus infection, our Government, like many countries, having closed borders and many enterprises, restricting movement within the country, introduced a quarantine regime, requiring social distancing and imposing a curfew, which led to disruption of the country's economic activities. To date, the ongoing pandemic COVID-19 creates logistical problems for the agricultural sector and cause a lack of cash flow affecting small and medium enterprises agribusiness, which are crucial for the production of food. At first, massive panic purchases of food by consumers during a pandemic, especially given the restrictions on exports and imports, led to a sharp jump in the prices of basic foodstuffs.

The pandemic brought a lot of problems to the agriculture of the Kyrgyz Republic (KR). Monitoring has shown that the restrictions on movement hindered the timely start of the planting season for almost a quarter (23%) of the surveyed farmers. The number of farmers who complained of difficulties with access to irrigated water has risen to 25% in 2020 (from 14% in 2018). The reason for this growth was the fact that in addition to the problems associated with dry, was added, and the lack of timely irrigation service rendered in the mode of emergency imposed in the country. Despite these delays, however, field work proceeded on schedule, even in those rural areas where strict quarantine was imposed. Resources imported into the country, such as diesel fuel for agricultural machinery from the Russian Federation; fertilizers from Uzbekistan, etc., were brought in despite higher import prices and the closure of borders. In the period from 2009 to 2019, the sown area of wheat in the Kyrgyz Republic decreased by 40%, and wheat was replaced by barley, corn and other fodder crops for animal husbandry. The restrictions of the Republic of Kazakhstan (removed from June 1, 2020) created problems for the Kyrgyz Republic with the import of wheat with a high gluten content from Kazakhstan. In this regard, if necessary, the Kyrgyz government has discussed the possibility of import of wheat and the Russian Federation.

Thanks to these measures, a survey conducted by WFP in June 2020 showed that the majority of respondents rated the availability of food at the nearest markets as "sufficient". Small farmers in the Kyrgyz Republic provide 80% of the food in the region. Quarantine in the cities of Bishkek and Osh affected the sales of farmers (especially livestock), as some markets have been closed or have become more difficult to reach or inaccessible. Agricultural producers, who were counting on the proceeds from those sales, were forced to turn to the financial sector for loans to cover operating costs for the spring field work. Loans are readily available, but with high interest rates, which can make it difficult for farmers to repay them and increase overdue bank loans. Due to lower farmers' incomes and rising food prices a risk to their inaccessibility. About 93% of those surveyed expressed concern about high or rising food prices, this is particularly alarming because the poor spend more than two thirds of their income on food. Among the three major food, most affected by the price increases were noted flour (64% of respondents), potato (35%) and oil (29%). Based on this situation, it is possible that with a 5% increase in consumer prices, the national poverty rate could rise by 3.6%.Monitoring data indicate a decrease in the consumption of foods rich in protein and hemoglobin by the population in 2020. Of those surveyed, 37% reported a deterioration in their diet with a decrease in consumption of meat and dairy products, reducing the amount of food consumed and the transition to lower-cost (less nutritious) foods - this category of the population was 43% in Bishkek and Osh. The consumption of low-quality low-value food had a devastating effect on people's health and reduce the immune system, making them more vulnerable to diseases such as COVID-19.

This vicious circle can be broken only focused the attention of Governments at the highest political levels. In 2008, Kyrgyzstan adopted the Law "On food security" - to prevent food crises and meet the needs of the population, including its socially vulnerable layers in the basic foods at the minimum norms of consumption. According to the norms of this law, in the event of a food crisis or its threat, the government introduces state regulation on certain types of goods (works, services).

Government response during the quarantine period to ensure food security included:

- provision of food aid to vulnerable segments of the population - hundreds of thousands of people received food packages with basic food products (flour, vegetable oil, sugar, etc.);

- providing financial support to businesses of importance to national food security;

- to increase self-sufficiency, encouraging farmers to grow more wheat;

- inclusion in the list of basic goods for which state regulation of retail prices is possible: tea, meat, eggs, vegetables, fruits, etc.

The contribution of the Kyrgyz National Agrarian University K.I Scryabin (KNAU) in the fight against COVID-19.University researchers under the leadership of the rector of KNAU, D.Sc., corresponding member NAS KR, professor Nurgaziev R.Z. developed a protocol for PCR for COVID-19. In addition, by order of the rector, researchers worked for a month in the Jalal-Abad city center for disease prevention and state sanitary and epidemiological surveillance and helped doctors conduct PCR for the diagnosis of COVID-19. Additionally, while lack of diagnostic test systems and consumables KNAU transferred to the MOH a thermocycler Qiagen Rotore Gene, kits for isolating DNA / RNA, a kit for reverse transcription and plastic consumables. The lessons we are learning from COVID-19 should help us design better policies and build more resilient and inclusive food systems that will limit the impact of future epidemics or pandemics of all kinds.