Tuesday, April 10 2018 14:21

ArmInfo. Since 2020, the Ministry of Agriculture of Armenia plans to provide assistance to agricultural producers of organic products. Deputy Minister of Agriculture of Armenia Armen Harutyunyan stated this when answering the question of ArmInfo. According to him, organic agriculture has great potential and can become a new and promising direction of agriculture in Armenia.

As the Deputy Minister noted, Armenia is currently exporting honey, tea and juices from organic products and mainly to the Russian market. Export volumes, for today, are insignificant: juices are exported for the sum of 100 thousand euros, essential oils - for 60 thousand euros, much more modest indicator on export of tea.

Nevertheless, the republic is aimed at expanding the geography and range of manufactured organic products. In particular, as the deputy minister noted, on December 11-13 in Dubai for the first time organic and natural products of 12 Armenian companies were presented at the joint ORGANIC ARMENIA pavilion at the specialized exhibition Organic & Natural Expo Middle East. At the same time, an agreement was reached on the export of organic oils from Armenia to the UAE. At the same time, according to the representative of the Ministry of Agriculture, the Armenian organics are quite competitive in the European market. In the near future it is planned to organize the production of organic wine and olive oil.

According to Harutyunyan, in the framework of the program of state action planned for 2020, the government may subsidize the business of those agricultural producers who wish to switch from traditional agriculture to organic agriculture.  The first program to support organic agriculture started in January 2015, its duration is 3 years, and the budget - 25 million euros. The duration of the second program for supporting organic agriculture in Armenia is 37 months, the budget is 3.3 million euros, of which 2.8 million euros are provided by the European Union, and 0.5 million euros by the Austrian Development Agency. The goal of the program is to support farmers and agribusiness in order to ensure transition to organic farming, increase agricultural production, develop new international markets, and provide bio-products to the local market. The program consists of four components: reforming the legal framework, providing financial assistance to farmers (grants), providing access to markets, raising awareness about the benefits of organic agriculture. On September 11, 2017 in Yerevan Ambassador of the EU Delegation to Armenia Ambassador Piotr Switalsky stated about great prospects for Armenian organic agricultural products on the European market, as it is "quality and tasty".  However, in September, 2017, in a conversation with the ArmInfo correspondent, the project manager (OASI) of the Austrian Development Agency David Mukenguber noted that the organic agricultural sector of Armenia, in view of the limited production volumes, can not compete in the European market with mass producers that are represented in large network supermarkets. According to him, Armenian agricultural products are sold, as a rule, in small grocery stores and kiosks of European capitals. At the same time, the Diaspora is also interested in the product. Mukenguyber noted that the advantage of Armenian organics in the ease of searching for niche markets "It is somewhat difficult to ensure the presence of Armenian organics in large network supermarkets, but here the key role is played not by quality, as organic production of Armenia is an exquisite, tasty and specific product. The point is limited production, whose volumes do not yet allow entering the markets of another level, "he explained.