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Agriculture in Azerbaijan (January-April 2015)

Analysis Materials 12 June 2015 17:26 (UTC +04:00)

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed an order in April approving the plan of activities in connection with the announcement of 2015 as the Year of Agriculture in Azerbaijan. According to the decree, the Ministry of Agriculture is a coordinating body for the execution of the action plan. The Cabinet of Ministers was charged with financing the activities envisaged by the action plan and solving other issues arising from the order.

The presidential decree on strengthening the material-technical base of scientific research institutions under the Ministry of Agriculture was the next act of the government in this area. According to the order, some 10 million manat envisaged in the state budget-2015 will be allocated from the presidential reserve fund to the ministry for the reconstruction and providing the Azerbaijani Agrarian Scientific Center with the modern laboratory equipment.

The Azerbaijani Agrarian Scientific Center is part of the Ministry of Agriculture, its regional offices, as well as scientific-research institutes under the center.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev also signed an order on additional measures to strengthen the state support for crop production development in April.

The Cabinet of Ministers must ensure increasing the volume of assistance rendered at the expense of the state budget by 25 percent. It is rendered for fuel and engine oil used by manufacturers of agricultural products while cultivating each hectare of sown areas and the long-term crops.

At the same time, this assistance and subsidies delivered for the preferential sale by Aqrolizinq and other legal and physical entities of mineral fertilizers will be also paid to the physical and legal entities engaged in repeated (intermediate) crops. The Ministry of Finance was instructed to resolve the issues arising from the order.

The volume of agricultural production in Azerbaijan in actual prices amounted to 910 million manat in January-April 2015 or by 3.7 percent more compared to the same period of last year.

According to the Azerbaijani State Statistics Committee's report as of four months, during this period the livestock production increased by 3.5 percent, crop production - by 8.4 percent.

Plant cultivation

The agricultural enterprises, private entrepreneurs, households have started spring field work in Azerbaijan since January. The agro-technical measures are carried out and the necessary agricultural machinery is ensured.

As of May 1, 2015, the crop covered an area of ​​253,200 hectares in Azerbaijan, which is by 3.4 percent less than in the same period of last year.

Some ​​65,950 hectares of the total cultivated area accounted for the perennial plants, 54,050 hectares - potatoes, 51,170 hectares - vegetables, 21,400 hectares - cereals and legumes (without corn).

The area sown with perennial plants increased by 4.2 percent, cereals and legumes - by 4.7 percent compared to the same period of last year. The area sown with potatoes decreased by six percent, vegetables - by 2.5 percent.

Spring plants planted in Azerbaijani agriculture, ha

2015

Jan.-April

2014

Jan.-April

2015/2014, %

Planted in total

253169

261981

96,6

Including -

Cereals and leguminous

21395

20429

104,7

Of them - wheat

104

16

650,0

-oats

1504

1012

148,6

-barley

56

41

136,6

Corn

19114

21050

90,8

Cotton

11650

14779

78,8

Sunflower

6028

7180

84,0

Tobacco

857

756

113,4

Potato

54048

57504

94,0

Sugar beet (for processing)

4019

4636

86,7

Vegetables

51168

52476

97,5

Melons and gourds

16734

18095

92,5

Annual plants

1293

1357

95,3

Perennial plants

65953

63267

104,2

edible root

127

176

72,0

Source: Azerbaijani State Statistics Committee

The weather conditions contribute to abundant harvest of grain crops in 2015. The experts estimate that this year the grain harvest volume will increase by 20-30 percent compared to last year, Azerbaijani Deputy Minister of Agriculture Ilham Guliyev said.

Guliyev made this statement at a press conference on the 21st Azerbaijan International Food Industry Exhibition and the 9th Azerbaijan International Agriculture Exhibition.

Guliyev said that the ministry is ready for crop harvesting. "We plan to complete the harvesting qualitatively, quickly and without loss," he said. "We have all conditions for this. We have brought the most modern combine harvesters to Azerbaijan."

Guliyev said that the farmers lost part of the crop because of the drought in 2014. By using its own funds the ministry provided the farmers with free seeds to partially compensate them.

Cattle breeding

So, the production of meat hit 148,000 metric tons, milk - 599,000 metric tons, 2,800 metric tons of wool and 515.8 million eggs in January-April 2015.

Meat production increased by 2.4 percent, milk - by 5.1 percent, wool - 3.1 percent, eggs - by 3.9 percent in the country during this period of the year compared to January-April 2014.

Production of meat, milk and eggs, thousand tons

products

2015

2014

meat (live weight)

148,0

144,5

milk

599,0

569,8

eggs, thousand pieces

515,8

496,6

Source: Azerbaijani State Statistics Committee

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