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.