BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 28
By Ilhama Isabalayeva – Trend:
Azerbaijani Food Safety Agency, together with the Hazelnut Producers and Exporters Association, held an online meeting with farmers growing hazelnuts, the Agency told Trend on July 28.
The employees of the Agro Services Agency under the Ministry of Agriculture also attended the meeting.
The production and export of hazelnuts, the problems faced by producers and exporters, cases of contamination of products at production sites and storage facilities by pests, the measures to combat them, the causes of the formation of poisonous aflatoxin were discussed during the meeting.
The information on the work conducted in the country in the field of the development of hazelnuts was given.
The new gardens have been intensively made in Zagatala, Gakh, Balakan, Oguz, Sheki, Khachmaz, Ismayilli, Gusar, Guba and Shabran districts since 2016.
Having increased by 2.4 times, the area of hazelnut orchards increased from 32,700 hectares to 79,500 hectares in 2019 compared to 2015.
The products not only are supplied to the local markets but are also exported to Russia, Italy, Germany, Ukraine and other countries.
Hazelnuts have recently ranked second after tomatoes in terms of agricultural profitability.
So, having increased by more than $20 million, the export of hazelnuts in value terms amounted to $125.6 million in 2019 compared to 2016.
It is planned to increase this indicator through the establishment of new hazelnut orchards in the future.