Tbilisi: Otar Shamugia the Georgian Minister of Environment Protection and Agriculture met with representatives of the Blueberry Producers Association and European exporters. At the meeting the parties discussed the issues of blueberry storage, the season’s production, the importance of exports and the possibilities of blueberry production in other regions as well.
At the meeting Minister Otar Shamugia also spoke about state support programs and focused on the program “Plant the Future.” As per the Minister This year a record amount of blueberries worth 26 million dollars was exported from the country. Within the framework of the “Plant the Future” program we have helped to plant about 2700 ha of blueberry orchards and we expect an increasing number of harvests from these orchards every year. “
The minister further added “In the coming years it is expected to harvest about 20-25000 tons of Blueberries. At the same time it is important to promote diversified sales of the obtained products in different markets. This year 500 tons of Georgian blueberries were exported to the European Union market. We want to improve results. Accordingly we will help the sector as much as possible in the future.”
On the other hand Ahmed Aktash exporter and founder of the company Wonderland Farmers stated, “I can freely tell you that the blueberry planting season was successful. Logistics services were fully organized.
There were practically no challenges. We would like to personally share with you the positive feedback that the introduction of Georgian blueberries to the EU market has caused. Georgian farmers worked exceptionally hard. We think that Georgian blueberry has a great production potential.”
At the meeting the discussion touched on the importance of state support for blueberry processing and juice production as well as packaging. Deputy Minister Tengiz Nasaridze and representatives of relevant services attended the meeting held at the Ministry of Environment and Agriculture.
It is to be specifically mentioned that representative of many other agencies were also present on the occasion. They also shared their experience about how to increase the production of blueberries and other products that can be exported to other countries with ease.
