BAKU, Azerbaijan, Sept.18
Trend:
The use of modern irrigation systems reduces farmers' expenses and cost of the products, Head of the public relations and information support department of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Agriculture, Vugar Huseynov told Trend.
According to Huseynov, by making products at a lower price, the farmer not only succeeds in price competition in the markets but also earns more.
He said that currently a great interest is shown in Azerbaijan for the use of modern drip irrigation systems at intensive gardening.
"One of the main conditions for intensive gardening is installing a drip irrigation system in an orchard. The area of intensive orchards in the country is expanded, and farmers are building modern irrigation systems in the orchards through the state support,” he noted.
“Modern irrigation systems have a number of economic advantages, including the provision of trees with the proper amount of minerals, reduced consumption of fertilizers and medicines, elimination of the problem of weeds, preventing of salinization and soil erosion,” Huseynov pointed out.
“Most importantly, the yield of orchards equipped with such systems is 4-6 times higher than that of ordinary gardens,” he said.
“Each of the afore-named factors lowers the cost of production, which is why our farmers are recommended to use modern drip irrigation systems in their orchards,” he stressed.
The ministry’s representative noted that in order to expand intensive orchards and increase the export potential of agricultural products, the state included modern irrigation systems in the preferential category.
“Our farmers can take advantage of the government discount to get the modern irrigation systems with a 20-percent initial fee. 40 percent of the equipment is paid by the state, and the remaining 40 percent of the loan is provided by banks for a period of 5 years. The bulk of the loan is paid by the farmers, and the five years," he summed up.