May 14, 2010

Armenian farmers refuse to cultivate grain crops

More farmers in Armenia are refusing to cultivate grain crops because of lack of high quality seeds and appropriate technology.

Armenian agricultural minister Gerasim Alaverdian said that the total land under grain crops slashed from 124,000 hectares in 2004 to 88,000 hectares in 2008. The minister said they failed to bring in 5,000 tonnes of high quality seeds, but added that the ministry has received a US$600,000 assistance from FAO to bring in elite sorts of grain crops.

According to Alaverdian, the total domestic demand for grain crops is about 700,000 tonnes, while local production meets only 35-40% of it. The remaining part is brought in from Russia and Ukraine. The minister also said that natural calamities contribute to multimillion damages to agriculture.

Last year natural disasters caused AMD12 billion (US$30 million) worth of damages. He said the government has earmarked AMD550 million (US$1.41 million) for instalment of anti-hail stations and another AMD250 million (US$0.64 million) was provided by the Japanese government, he said.

According to the government programme, some 79 anti-hail stations are to be installed this year and next year to protect about 30,000 hectares of land under crop. Armenian experts estimate the damages caused by natural calamities to be from US$13-US$20 million a year, 50% of which is caused by hails.