ArmInfo.. There is no need to rush to conclusions that agriculture is experiencing a crisis; the sector is now being transformed into agribusiness, so time is needed. Arsen Bazikyan, President at Lessor's Association of Armenia, expressed a similar opinion in a conversation with an ArmInfo correspondent.
According to him, agriculture was perceived as a branch separate from the economy in the past. "But this is part of the economy, which we consider to be agribusiness, and we urge farmers to change their attitude, to treat this sector as a business that requires investments, calculations, and knowledge," the head of the Association emphasized.
He noted that understanding the need for the abovementioned, the Association is working towards raising awareness among farmers, which will allow them to expand their activities rather than increase the credit burden from year to year. Speaking about the leasing portfolio, the volume of which totaled 200 billion drams in 2023, Bazikyan noted that compared to last year, an increase of 70% was recorded. "And there are growth trends," he noted.
However, according to the head of the Association, the achieved indicators are not an end in themselves. The organization's priority is to re-equip entrepreneurs with the latest technologies. "Therefore, I would not like to make any assessment that agriculture is experiencing a crisis. Now we need to understand that a change in the culture of agriculture is taking place," he concluded.
According to the RA Statistics Committee, the gross agricultural output of Armenia decreased by 0.3% year-on-year, to 948 billion drams. In 2022, the sector showed stagnant growth of 0.4%, slightly exceeding the threshold of 1 trillion drams, in 2021 - a decline of 1.1% was recorded to 933 billion drams.
Notably, Vahan Kerobyan, who previously served as the Minister of Economy of Armenia, stated according to the Government's plan, it is planned to increase the gross output of agriculture to 1.4 trillion drams for 2021-2026.
"It is obvious that we will exceed this indicator and therefore, we will make appropriate changes to the program of measures in order to set higher goals for future years," he said.
In 2023, the agricultural budget of Armenia totaled 37 billion drams, but expenses reached 47 billion drams. Compared to 2018, budget allocations for the agro-industrial complex of Armenia increased 7-fold, but the sector did not register significant growth.
