Armenian Minister of Agriculture expects growth of agricultural sector

ArmInfo. Following the results of 2018, the sphere of agriculture, after a recession that lasted two consecutive years, finally promises to fix growth. Armenian Minister of Agriculture Ignaty Arakelyan stated this on March 21 in a conversation with the correspondent of ArmInfo.

According to the minister, for two consecutive years the level of yield was affected by unfavorable climatic conditions. This year, the Ministry of Agriculture hopes for a more lenient attitude of Mother Nature. "This spring sowing started early and if we manage to avoid spring frosts and hail, we will fix growth," Arakelyan said.

According to him, at present the efforts of those responsible for the sphere are aimed at solving problems related to water shortage due to the meager weather conditions. The State Water Committee of Armenia, as the minister noted, implements various programs with a large budget in order to somehow compensate for the shortage of water reserves in the reservoirs of the country by restoring deep wells and drilling new ones.

At the same time, Ignaty Arakelyan agrees that in the third millennium it is not very appropriate to link the decline in agriculture with bad weather conditions. "This is only an indirect indicator of the stage of development of the Armenian agro-sphere: we do not have intensive agriculture, an agricultural risk insurance system and human resources that have the necessary qualifications to ensure the growth of the sphere," said the Minister of Agriculture, stressing that today's steps departments are directed specifically at these goals.

Ignaty Arakelyan forecasts the growth of the sphere already by the results of the current year. "Growth will become a fact, as there is already some activation, a program has been introduced to support the sphere of drip irrigation and the creation of intensive gardens, installation of anti-hail networks and provision of working capital for procurement companies guarantee that the products produced by him will be procured," the minister explained.

Armenia's GDP grew by 7.5% in 2017, while in the previous year it slowed down to 0.2% from 3.2% in 2015. Economic growth in 2017 was supported by the services sector - by 14.4% per annum, trade - by 14% and the industrial sector - by 12.6%, against growth of 7.1%, 0.1% and 6.7% respectively a year earlier. The energy complex and the construction sector - 6.1% and 2.2%, which recorded a decline of 6.2% and 10.8% a year earlier, also ensured a relatively modest growth.  Against this background, the agricultural sector, delayed in the recession, only slowed down to 3% from 5.2% in 2016.

Nevertheless, in Jan-Feb 2018, compared to the same period in 2017, economic activity increased by 8.6%, against last year's 6.2% growth.  According to preliminary data of the National Statistical Service of Armenia, annual growth provoked all spheres, except for the agricultural sector, which slowed down to 0.1%. In the annual context (February 2018 to February 2017), the construction sphere also distinguished the largest growth, the trade sector and services - 25.1%, 17.6% and 15.4%, respectively, followed by the industrial sector - 3.3% and the agricultural sector - 0.2%, and the energy complex was in decline - by 0.5%.