Karen Karapetyan stated obstacles to the development of agriculture in Armenia

ArmInfo. In Yerevan, November 8,  the "Agroforum" was opened, dedicated to the development of  agriculture and industrial processing of agricultural products.  "Armenia is aimed at increasing the productivity of the agrosphere,  since it has all the necessary conditions for this," Prime Minister  of Armenia Karen Karapetyan said at the opening of the event.  According to the press service of the government, Karen Karapetyan  noted that agriculture is one of the most important sectors of the  country's economy, which provides employment and, accordingly, income  for residents of rural settlements. In addition, the development of  the agricultural sector will increase the volume of exports and lead  to sustainable macroeconomic development of the republic.

According to the Prime Minister, at present in Armenia there is an  opportunity to provide a high level of productivity in the sphere,  which can be visited by introducing modern technologies, developing  high-value crops, implementing the import substitution process,  increasing geography and export volumes and creating comfortable  conditions for agricultural entrepreneurs.

The Armenian government, as he noted, pays special attention to  ensuring the state's safety. According to head of the Cabinet of  Ministers, today assessing the situation in the country objectively,  it is necessary to state that there are numerous difficulties on the  way of agricultural development that should be solved. This is also  the solution of the issues of stable irrigation of farmland, the  zoning of agricultural lands that have not been used, and the  increase in the scope of the sphere. The prime minister also stressed  that the government's current steps are aimed at creating a solid  foundation for the sphere and new opportunities in the context of  developing a competitive, lucrative and stably developing agrosphere.  To this end, as Karen Karapetyan pointed out, a number of state  support programs have already been specified, aimed at creating  intensive gardens, acquiring agricultural machinery, introducing drip  irrigation. "I am sure that Armenia has great potential in the  sphere, we will not have problems with the sales markets if we  produce high-quality products," he said.

Recall, on September 22 at the meeting of the Government of Armenia  Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan said that the statistics in the field  of agriculture are very worried. "We need to carefully study the  reasons for the decline in agriculture in Armenia in the first 8  months of 2017," he said. "In the context of August- August and  January-August, in comparison with the same period of the previous  year, growth was recorded in all spheres, except for agriculture and  construction," Karen Karapetyan said. The head of the Cabinet  instructed the ministers of agriculture, territorial administration  and development, as well as the governors of the regions and the head  of the National Statistical Service, to summarize and submit to the  government apparatus information on the indicators registered in the  field of agriculture and the reasons for the decline observed.

Despite the fact that in Armenia in January-September 2017, economic  activity accelerated from 1.6% to 5.1% in the same period of 2016,  the agricultural sector and the construction sector continue to show  an annual decline - by 9.9% and 6% respectively ,4%. On an annual  basis (September 2017, by September 2016), the only recession was  recorded in the agricultural sector - by 11.6%, while other areas  showed growth.