BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 24
By Tamilla Mammadova – Trend:
The total harvesting of perennial crops in Georgia has increased by 18 percent, compared to the average yield of 2016-2018, Trend reports via EastFruit portal.
However, the production of some crops has decreased.
Of 24 perennial crops, only 8 showed a drop in production during 2016-2018. These are: plum (-1 percent), lemon (-3 percent), pomegranate (-5 percent), pear (-21 percent), medlar (-21 percent), cherry plum (-24 percent), peach and nectarine (-28 percent ) and garden strawberries (-54 percent).
The most notable volume decline in 2019 is for peach. In 2019, only 22,300 tons were produced. However, already in 2020, the harvest of peach and nectarine in Georgia reached a record level. As of early August 2020, 23,000 tons of peach and nectarine have already been collected in Georgia, and more than 16,000 tons have already been exported.
Of the products with positive dynamics, grapes stand out the most, which, in addition to significant production volumes, also has a high production growth rate - more than 45 percent.
Raspberry production has the highest growth rates - in 2019, compared with the average in previous years, raspberry production doubled.
Walnuts ranked second in terms of production growth rates in Georgia among fruit crops. Its harvest increased in 2019 in relation to the average indicators of 2016-2018 by 57 percent at once. As a result, in 2019, the export of walnut kernels from Georgia increased by 10 times at once, while imports fell sharply.
According to the Georgian Association of Almond and Walnut Producers, at the end of 2019, the total area of modern walnut orchards in Georgia exceeded 3,000 hectares.
Also noteworthy is the dynamic growth of the production of kiwi and feijoa in Georgia.
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