December 30, 2010

Azerbaijan to increase grain output amount in 2011

Azerbaijan may produce about 2.5 million tonnes of grains in the following year and it is more than the current year's output, said Ismet Abbasov, the Minister of Agriculture of Azerbaijan.

Next year's grain production volumes will experience a rise, and the production volume in 2009 is the sign for it as the country produced three million tonnes last year, said Abbasov.

While commenting the issue of the VAT cancellation for grain imports from December 1, 2010, Abbasov said that the step was initiated to prevent the artificial bread prices increase.

In future, the VAT cancellation will create the conditions when grain prices increase so that countries-importers do not affect bread prices in Azerbaijan, said Abbasov.

In Azerbaijan, three million tonnes of grains are needed. However, parts of the sowing areas are under the water due to the natural disaster which took place in the central part of the country in spring 2010. As a result, grain production volumes decreased compared to last year whereby the record volumes of commodities were achieved. As of December 1, the country produced 1.86 million tonnes of grains.