Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov. 3 / Trend A. Akhundov, H. Valiyev /
Azerbaijan has eliminated the dependence on imports of grain seeds, Azerbaijani Deputy Minister of Agriculture Ilham Guliyev said at the event on the occasion of the professional holiday of agricultural workers of Azerbaijan on Friday.
"Today, one of the most important problems is to provide the population with organic products through domestic production," Guliyev said. "It is necessary to use the intensive technologies, high reproductive seeds and seedlings. According to the calculations, around 128,628 tons of wheat and oat seeds were produced in the country in 2007. But this figure increased up to 194,500 tons (with a demand of 191,300 tons) in 2013. This dynamics eliminated the country's dependence on imported seeds."
Azerbaijan produced 2 million tons of grain in 2003, while this figure reached 2.8 million tons in 2012 as a result of eliminating the dependency on imported seeds. Wheat production increased from 1.5 million tons to 1.85 million tons. Potato production increased from 769,000 to 968,500 tons, vegetables - from 1 million to 1.216 million tons, melons - from 356,700 to 428,000 tons, fruit - from 572,100 to 810,000 tons, grapes - from 65,000 to 151,000 tons.
"There were 246 kilograms of cereals (after cleaning) per capita in 2003, while the figure was 292 kilograms as of 2012," Guliyev said. "During the reporting period, the potato production per capita increased from 94 to 104 kilograms, vegetables - from 128 to 130 kilograms, melons - from 44 to 46 kilograms, sugar beet (for industrial processing) - from 16 to 19 kilograms, fruit and berries - from 70 to 87 kilograms, meat - from 23 to 30.5 kilograms, milk - from 143 to 183 kilograms, eggs - from 83 to 131.1 pieces."