BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 1
By Tamilla Mammadova – Trend:
The Georgian Hazelnut Growers Association (GHGA), with the support of FAO and the Georgian Village Development Agency, opened its representative office in the Kakheti region (Eastern Georgia) and began providing services to local hazelnut producers, Trend reports via Georgian media.
Initially, the activities of the association, which has been functioning since 2013, covered only the Samegrelo region, which is the main supplier of Georgian hazelnuts to the market, and over the years it has spread to such regions of Western Georgia as Guria, Imereti, and Adjara. To date, about 25,000 hazelnut farmers from Western Georgia participate in the program for the development of the hazelnut industry, implemented by GHGA with the support of the Ministry of Environment and Agriculture of Georgia, USAID, and Ferrero.
“Preparations for the next hazelnut season have already begun in Georgia, and from this point of view, the opening of a representative office of the Association in Kakheti is quite timely. I would like to especially thank FAO for their support. Now a special group has been formed in Kakheti, which includes one coordinator and 5 agronomists-consultants, each of whom will be able to manage about 250 hectares of hazelnut areas. Cooperation with farmers in Kakheti will follow the same pattern as in Western Georgia, where we have already received effective results. At the first stage, we plan to reach about 1,200 farmers in the region. Farmers who will unite in the Association will be able to count on all of its services. Kakheti has a high potential in terms of hazelnut production, but there is still a lot of work to be done,” said GHGA Executive Director Georgi Todua.
As Todua noted, the association has already held a meeting with representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture and local authorities of Kakheti, who, for their part, promised assistance in relations with farmers.
According to Todua, today in Kakheti, fruiting hazelnut orchards occupy an area of about 5,000 hectares. New gardens are located in approximately the same area. The total area of hazelnut orchards in Georgia (including new ones) is about 70,000 hectares.
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