Epress.am News from Armenia
According to estimates, no more than 20,000 tons of apricots were produced in Armenia this year, said Armenian Agrarian Peasants Union President Hrach Berberyan, speaking to journalists in Yerevan today.
Berberyan stated that during its best years, Armenia produced 75,000 tons of apricots.
One of the reasons for the drastic drop in the harvest, said Berberyan, has to do with the drying up of fruit orchards, as a result of which 10–15% of orchards have dried up.
“If the prices are affordable, the population consumes 10,000 tons — 5,000 tons are processed, 5,000 tons are exported,” he said.
The agrarian expert also weighed in on the vegetable harvest, saying it’s in mediocre condition. Berberyan tied this issue with plant diseases.
“Mainly, the fight against diseases in agriculture today is organized incorrectly. Of course the villager also has a problem with the fertilizer. They [presumably, government officials] promised to provide fertilizer for 6,500 drams, but didn’t do so. An agriculture ministry employee also said the price of fertilizer will go down by 15%. Fine, next year, they’ll answer for these remarks — they said and they left. The price of fertilizer won’t go down,” he said.
Berberyan also mentioned that the best harvest this year will be the peach harvest.