$23.7 mln loans issued to promote cultivation of annual crops - Agriculture Ministry

A total of 4,305 preferential loans worth ₾70.9 million ($23.7mln/€22mln) have been issued in Georgia since March 22 to promote cultivation of annual crops, the Georgian Agriculture Ministry announced on Thursday.

Within the Preferential Agrocredit Project, the Rural Development Agency is co-financing 12-month interest on the loans with the maximum annual interest rate of 18 percent, nine percent of which per annum is financed by the state. The loan amount per beneficiary is set from ₾5,000 ($1,673/€1,565) to ₾100,000 ($33,496/€31,328).

• Agriculture Minister: farmers to get low-interest loans for annual crop production

During his meeting with local farmers in eastern Georgia’s winemaking region of Kakheti, Agriculture Minister Otar Shamugia said increasing the self-sufficiency rate of domestically grown wheat was a priority for the Government. 

Reducing the cost of working capital for growing annual crops and enabling farmers to produce more quality agricultural products are also among the aims of the project, and were noted during the meeting, the Ministry said. Photo: Georgian Agriculture Ministry

The three ongoing projects implemented by the Regional Environmental Centre for the Caucasus, a regional non-governmental organisation, were also highlighted at the meeting.

• Georgia can increase wheat self-sufficiency to 50%, Agriculture Minister says

The projects aim to promote local wheat varieties, introduce new wheat sowing technology and use a seed-replacing approach to reduce soil depletion.