Minister of Agriculture held online video conference with pomegranate producers in Goychay

Within the framework of his visit to Goychay, Minister of Agriculture, Inam Karimov held an online video conference with members of the Azerbaijan Pomegranate Producers and Exporters Association. Along with the members of the Assosiation, representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Economy, representatives of companies engaged in the processing and export of pomegranate products, farmers from Goychay, Agsu, Saatli, Sabirabad, Hajigabul, Imishli and Kurdamir participated in the video conference held at Goychay State Agrarian Development Center.

Speaking at the video conference, Minister of Agriculture, Inam Karimov said that the agricultural sector was declared one of the priority sectors of the economy by the president of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mr. Ilham Aliyev. In order to ensure the country’s food security, to achieve sustainable development in the agricultural sector, the Ministry of Agriculture has set up tasks to increase productivity, strengthen export potential, expand the business even further. In order to fulfill the tasks set forth, the Ministry of Agriculture helds meetings with assositions, processing enterprises and farmers specialized in various fields of the agricultural sector.

The Minister said that the export potential of pomegranate and their products is high, the state implemented sustainable support measures and allocated subsidies for the development of this sector. He said that the main tasks facing the development of pomegranate growing are to improve the quality of the product and the average yield.

At the meeting, it was recalled that mass pomegranate harvesting will begin in the country in the coming days, the impact of difficulties arising from the realization of the product, export process, expansion of intensive pomegranate fields, quality of medicinal preparations applied in gardens, drought, packaging of pomegranate products, branding, processing, pomegranate seeding were exchanged. It was noted that there are no problems with the sale of pomegranate products in interior and foreign markets. The participants noted that in order to increase the specific weight of Azerbaijani pomegranate in traditional export markets, to produce competitive products, it is necessary to increase existing quality indicators and increase productivity. The establishment of relations between local pomegranate producers on the principles of healthy competition and cooperation was considered as a positive case. The Ministry, assosiation and farmers cooperate in the process of establishing new gardens, fighting against diseases and pests, proper implementation of agrotechnical care rules.

At the meeting, the work done to provide information and advice services to farmers, expand awareness-raising was discussed, the proposals voiced were recorded.

Video conference participants expressed their satisfaction with the traditional nature of the discussions in this format initiated by the Ministry of Agriculture and positively assessed the steps taken to reiterate the proposals.

It should be noted that the development of pomegranate growing in Azerbaijan is supported by the state. At present, the planting area of pomegranate gardens in the country has reached 22.9 thousand hectares. 21,1 thousand hectares of existing pomegranate gardens are at the age of giving bars. 56% of the pomegranate gardens are located in Goychay, Kurdamir, Agsu, Ujar and Sabirabad regions. Last year, the average yield in pomegranate gardens was 85.6 quintals.