Online video conference was held with hazelnut producers and exporters in the Ministry of Agriculture

Online video conference was held with individuals and legal entities engaged in the production and export of hazelnut in the Ministry of Agriculture. Minister of Agriculture Inam Karimov, representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Safety Agency, members of the Azerbaijan Hazelnut Producers and Exporters Association, heads of hazelnut processing enterprises, members of the “Ata-baba” Hazelnuts Production Cooperative, farmers from Balakan, Zagatala, Gakh, Gabala and Khachmaz districts were attended in the video conference held on September 18.

Minister Inam Karimov noted that the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Mr. Ilham Aliyev defined measures to ensure food security in the country. In order to fulfill these tasks, the Ministry of Agriculture regularly holds meetings with associations, processing enterprises and farmers working in various areas of the agricultural sector. The purpose of the meetings is to assess the current state of affairs in these areas, discuss the difficulties faced by farmers, and achieve their solutions. Noting the special place of hazelnuts in the agricultural sector, the Minister recalled that hazelnuts play an important role in exports, noting that the state supports the development of this sphere through a subsidy mechanism.

At the meeting, it was noted that the active stage of hazelnut harvesting will begin in the coming days, problems caused by early harvesting in the production of hazelnuts, relations between farmers and processing enterprises, further improvement of agrotechnical care measures in gardens, systematic organization of work to combat various diseases, the problem of aflatoxin in the export of nuts and other issues were discussed. Participants noted that early harvesting of wet hazelnuts negatively affects yields, emphasizing the importance of raising awareness among farmers. It was noted that after the end of the growing season, the yield increases by an average of 10%. For this reason, if farmers harvest hazelnuts on time, they can get more crops and earn more income. At the meeting, such proposals were voiced as the creation of national standards for hazelnut products, the provision of subsidies by processing enterprises on the basis of procurement certificates, and the signing of agreements between processing enterprises and farmers on “contract production”.

In conclusion, it was decided to systematize and submit proposals to the Ministry for the further development of hazelnut farming in the country as soon as possible. Farmers and entrepreneurs involved in the production and export of hazelnuts stressed that such meetings are important for overcoming existing difficulties.

It should be noted that hazelnut production in the country is supported by the state. According to the decision of the Agrarian Subsidy Council, 400 manats are paid for each hectare of intensive hazelnut gardens and 240 manats for each hectare of old gardens.

At present, the total area of hazelnut orchards in Azerbaijan is 79.5 thousand hectares. 43.4 thousand hectares of hazelnut gardens or 54.6% of them are of bar-giving age.

Last year, 53.8 thousand tons of hazelnuts were produced in Azerbaijan. In 2019, hazelnut tree with shell from Azerbaijan grew 2.2 times compared to the previous year and hazelnut kernel tree by 20.9%. In 2019, 97.3% of the total hazelnut sector accounted for hazelnut kernel, 2.7% for shell hazelnut.