Azerbaijan, Baku, Aug. 26 / Trend A.Akhundov /
The Azerbaijani Agriculture Ministry is gravely concerned about the rising prices of meat, Deputy Minister Bahram Aliyev said in his article, published in the official press.
"Azerbaijan produced 253,800 tons of meat in a clean weight in 2010, which is 7.6 percent more compared to 2009. The figure rose by 5.6 percent in the first six months of 2001, compared to the first half of 2010. However, the increase in the prices of meat is a major concern", Aliyev said.
He believes that sales would be better if the equipment used to sell meats were constructed in Baku and transferred to the large farms.
"Bad cases could be prevented if large farms would sell meat using such equipment", Aliyev said.
He said the country must rapidly develop poultry farming.
"One of the most pressing objectives is bringing the volume of poultry meat production to 80,000 tons, as delegated by the State Program on Food Security. It requires developing a mechanism to import and produce poultry feeds and their components," Aliyev said.
According to the Azerbaijani State Statistics Committee, agricultural production in Azerbaijan increased by 10.2 percent, including livestock production, by 4.8 percent, during the first seven months of 2011 compared to the same period of 2010.
There was 243,300 tons of meat produced, 941,300 tons of milk, 590.6 million units of eggs, and 14,600 tons of wool.
During the reporting period, the production of meat grew by 5.5 percent, milk by 8.4 percent, and wool by 6.8 percent; the production of eggs declined by 16.8 percent.
Aliyev said the State Program on Food Security defined a goal to increase production of meat to 340,000 tons and milk up to 2.4 million tons by 2015.