Armenian Minister of Agriculture reports on results of work

ArmInfo. Armenia's Ministry of  Agriculture analyzes efficiency of the programs being implemented  with state support aimed at finding ways for solving the problems of  the field, Agriculture Minister Ignatiy Arakelyan stated at the press  conference on the results of the year on December 24. 

According to him based on the surveys next year the Ministry of  Agriculture will improve programs subsidizing the field. The Minister  stated that a number of mechanisms are being developed to that end.  In any case farmer enterprises will benefit, he said. 

Some reforms will be made on market of fertilizers. Particularly,  negotiations are being held with the companies on the issue of  importing fertilizers. According to the Minister a tender will be  announced and the Ministry will do everything possible to ensure  farmers with fertilizers. Besides, standards are being developed for  nurseries of pedigree stock operating in Armenia. In this area  cooperation with private sector will be established, while the state  will finance or lend to the field. 

As of today the Ministry has a task of transforming uncultivated  lands into cultivated ones. Relevant instructions have already been  given for this purpose. At the same time Arakelyan admitted that  there are lands, which are not cultivated because there are problems  with irrigation. Thus, this problem should be solved first of all and  after that convenient conditions should be created for business to   cultivate the lands.  

Implementation of the program of seed industry will continue next  year, the Minister informed. In this context he mentioned the  importance of ensuring enough amount of qualitative seeds. Meanwhile,  one of the serious problems of the field according to Agriculture  Ministry is wear-and-tear of agricultural equipment. According to him  the Ministry hopes to solve the problem via cooperation with private  sector. 

To note, yesterday at resulting press conference Finance Minister  Vardan Aramyan stated that the real growth of GDP in Armenia based on  2016 is expected at 0,5% level. According to Aramyan, the negative  tendency is preconditioned first with latest developments in  agriculture. In august 2016 the agricultural sector grew for 9,6%  versus the same period of 2015, but already in September showed a  dropdown for 20%, and in October - for 30%. During detailed studies  it became obvious that the negative trend is not preconditioned by  economic developments in the sphere, but with wrong estimations and  lack of relevant diagnostics.