Epress.am News from Armenia
The Armenian government in its meeting today admitted the damage caused to a number of rural communities as a result of the frost that hit the country between March 30 and April 1, 2014, has reached a catastrophic level, creating a state of emergency. In order to mitigate the harm, an urgent need arose to acquire different seeds from businesses that sell seeds to agricultural crops and allocate them to the regional administrations (marzpetaran), with the aim of providing them to the farmers of the communities most affected by the frost.
According to the government's official website [AM], the RA Ministry of Agriculture was permitted to withdraw 85 million AMD from the Seed Agency SNCO account to provide seeds to the regional administrations of Aragatsotn, Armavir, Lori, Vayots Dzor, and Tavush, which, in turn, within 10 days will distribute the seeds to farmers via the village mayors.
The government also decided to lower the price of barley seeds from 200 to 130 AMD. In addition, nitrogenous fertilizer and diesel fuel will be sold to frost-affected farmers according to the actual size of their land.
According to another government decision adopted today, 271 million AMD will be allocated to the regional administrations of affected provinces (marzes) on behalf of individuals and legal entities that are subject to paying annual fees to the community budget and land tax. Furthermore, 487 million AMD was allocated to the Ministry of Territorial Administration as compensation for the 2014 fees for the irrigation water consumed by individuals and legal entities. It is expected that the government assistance will create favorable conditions for the future effective use of affected lands, and increase the volume of agricultural production and income of rural households.