BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 10
By Tamilla Mammadova – Trend:
A bay leaf has been added to the list of crops funded in Georgia under the state-owned program Plant the Future, Trend reports citing EastFruit analytical portal.
Corresponding changes to the state program prepared by the Ministry of Environment Protection and Agriculture of Georgia were recently approved at a government meeting.
“In order to facilitate the cultivation of commercial volumes in the country, co-financing of bay leaf cultivation has been added to the Plant the Future program. Bay leaf cultivation has a long tradition in Georgia. Now Georgian bay leaf is entering new markets, and its export is growing. Its deliveries are already being arranged to Southeast Asia and the countries of Europe,” said Minister of Environment Protection and Agriculture of Georgia Levan Davitashvili.
According to the National Statistics Service of Georgia (Geostat), the volume of export of bay leaves, ginger, saffron and other spices in the last three years has been characterized by a steady growth trend: in 2017 it amounted to $7.8 million, in 2018 - $8.4 million, in 2019 – $10.5 million.
The countries where Georgian bay leaf is shipped include China, Vietnam, the Philippines, India, Israel, the US, Nigeria, Congo, Angola, Germany, Spain, Poland, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Latvia, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan.
The Plant the Future program began in March 2015 and is part of the state program on preferential agricultural loan. It involves the state financing of the purchase of seedlings by farmers for creating and developing orchards.
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