Georgian Agriculture Minister expecting “successful” harvest of “all major crops”

Otar Shamugia, the Georgian Minister of Agriculture and Environmental Protection, on Thursday expressed optimism about this year's harvest during a visit to the village of Bzvani in the western Imereti region.

Accompanied by Zviad Shalamberidze, the State Representative in the region, and Davit Tsitlidze, the Director of the Rural Development Agency of the country, the Minister visited a processing enterprise operated by the Georgian Laurel Leaf company.

Shamugia highlighted the increasing demand for laurel, especially for exports, which he said have reached a “record” $20 million within the first five months of the year, with a significant portion going to the Chinese market.

Overall, we anticipate a good harvest this year across all major crops that we produce. I believe we are in for a successful year; naturally, we stand by our farmers”, he said.

The Ministry said Georgian Laurel Leaf had received a substantial grant of ₾570,000 ($198,968) from the co-financing programme for processing and storage enterprises, which had contributed to the employment of 35 individuals.

The company’s seasonal production of approximately 200 tonnes of dry bay leaves is exported to China.

Photo: Ministry of Agriculture

The body added preferential agro-credit issued for bay leaf processing had exceeded ₾6 million ($2.09mln) throughout Georgia.

In other figures, 269 processing and storage enterprises have been co-financed with ₾126 million ($43.98mln) throughout the country under the co-financing programme.

Shamugia also said blueberry production and export was expected to double this year, while visiting the orchards of Argoveli company in Gocha Jikhaishi village in the same region.

This year we expect a doubling of blueberry production and export, which means about ₾100-120 million ($34.91-41.89mln) of export income for our farmers and entrepreneurs. These figures will increase in the coming years”, the Minister said.

Irakli Pirtskhalashvili, the Founder of Agroveli, credited state programmes as a “significant factor” in the company’s development. The company, which owns a 32-hectare blueberry plantation, expects a harvest of 120 to 130 tonnes in the 2024 season and has already exported 55 tonnes of blueberries to European countries.

Photo: Ministry of Agriculture

The Ministry said the blueberry cultivation sector in the country had received support from the Rural Development Agency, which had issued preferential agro-credit exceeding ₾162 million ($56.55mln) for blueberry cultivation, with ₾29 million ($10.12mln) subsidised for loan interest.

Notably, within the Plant the Future state programme, the cultivation of blueberries on 2,864 hectares has been co-financed with ₾50.4 million ($17.59mln) across Georgia, with 581 hectares in the Imereti region alone receiving ₾10.4 million ($3.50mln) in co-financing.