ArmInfo. The official data on the agricultural sector for the first half of 2022 do not reflect the real situation, Armenia's Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan said in an interview with Armenpress.
His explained his opinion by defective data collection and late agricultural season. The data collection procedure has changed since the community enlargement process was launched, which rules out accuracy. The minister also rules out a decline in Armenia's agricultural sector amid the growing exports during the period under review.
Mr Kerobyan reported a new agricultural law is being drafted which will allow more accurate data to be obtained and, therefore, better management. He also reported good results in implementation of agricultural programmes of intensive gardening and leasing of agricultural equipment. On the other hand, he pointed out some difficulties in cattle raising programmes. This week, Armenia's government, the Eurasian Development Bank and Yeremyan Project will launch a pilot cattle raising programme worth a total of $47mln.
"This is the largest-scale programme in this field," he said.
According to preliminary data, a 5.5% decline in Armenia's agricultural sector was recorded in the first half of 2022 against a 6.8% growth in the first half of 2021.