Tbilisi: Otar Shamugia the Georgian Minister of Environment Protection and Agriculture expected a huge demand for high-quality nuts. He recently visited the Kvemo Aketi village in Lanchkhuti municipality and interacted with farmers.
The Minister was accompanied on his visit by Giorgi Urushadze the State Trustee of the Guria region. Both dignitaries met fruit farmers in Kvemo Aketi village Lanchkhuti municipality and learned about farmers problems and solutions. The meeting was held at the nut storage enterprise of the “GHGA Commercial company.”
The enterprise equipped with modern standards can store up to 1000 tons of nuts at once. The storage facility has benefitted many farmers of region in multiple ways. At the meeting with the Minister the fruit farmers spoke about the importance of the programs that the state is implementing to promote the development of the fruit industry in the country.
Speaking specifically on the occasion the Minister added “The quality of nuts has improved significantly this year and the quantity has also increased. It is necessary to house, store, and dry the nuts in appropriate conditions to maintain the high quality, on which the farmers’ income depends significantly. The demand for high-quality nuts is high and the price will also be high, which will help improve farmers’ conditions in many ways. “
On the other hand as per Giorgi Urushadze the state representative in the Guria region within the framework of the state program supporting the production of hazelnuts, the hazelnut producers purchased the necessary tools for the maintenance of gardens, the targeted and correct use of which had a positive effect on both the quality and quantity of the nuts’ harvest.
It is worth mentioning that state has been implementing several programs for the past few years to respond to the challenges in the field and to support fruit farmers. The program to promote hazelnut production is being implemented for the second year. The program has up to 96 thousand users throughout the country. More than 45000 hectares of hazelnut orchards are registered in the hazelnut cadastre. Farmers have already received about 21 million GEL targeted assistance this year.
