Marneuli municipality hosts Wheat selection demonstration open door day

Georgia: The Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia, Yuri Nozadze, attended the open day of wheat selection-demonstration open day “Lomtagora 2024”, held in Marneuli municipality.

During the event, Kakha Lashkh, the director of “Firm Lomtagora” Ltd., introduced the guests to the new technologies of wheat care, existing challenges, and ongoing work.

Field representatives and experts inspected endemic wheat species, old local varieties, prospective forms of wheat from up to 120 wheat sown from international plantations, and national catalog wheat seedlings. They assessed plant adaptation to soil-climatic conditions, disease resilience, and high-yield determinants in perspective forms from international plants at the Lomtagora demonstration plots. From the results, they discussed registering new breeds in Georgia.

“To facilitate the development of grain cultures, it is necessary to provide scientific provision of the sector. It is important to examine, district, and distribute selective new varieties introduced by international organizations in agriculture. A priority issue for Georgian farmers is the delivery of quality seed materials produced on the spot,” said Yuri Nozadze, Deputy Minister of Environment Protection and Agricultural.

“To solve this farming issue, with a close relationship with the Ministry of Environment Protection and Agriculture and donor organizations, Lomtagora has been successfully implementing wheat and maize selection on the market for more than 30 years”, stated Yuri Nozadze.

The guests also visited the company-owned grain storage factory with modern technologies and a modern seed processing and cleaning unit.

Gela Samkharauli, chairman of the Committee on Agrarian Affairs of the Georgian Parliament, a representative of the International Center for Corn and Wheat Improvement (CIMMYT), the Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Agricultural Scientific and Research Center, Kobuleti Institute of Genetics and Immunology, representatives of local self-government bodies, and farmers attended the event.