BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb.23
By Tamilla Mammadova – Trend:
Georgia exported 13,000 tons of apples, which is a record figure for it over the past 20 marketing years from the beginning of August 2020 to 21 February 2021, Trend reports via the Ministry of Environment Protection and Agriculture.
According to the ministry, the current volume of apple exports is 13 times higher than a year ago.
Over 96 percent of all export deliveries (12,500 tons) were made to Russia. The export markets for Georgian apples also include Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Moldova, Hungary, Singapore, and Hong Kong (China).
The volume of apple exports in monetary terms for the specified period amounted to $5.6 million, or 9 times more than in the same period of the previous season, the ministry said.
The apple harvest in Georgia this season has not yet been calculated. According to the forecast of the ministry, it will be at the level of 120,000 tons. So far, it is only known that within the framework of the state program to promote the sale of non-standard apples by farmers this season, about 50,000 tons of non-standard fruits were handed over to processing enterprises.
To date, the cost of 1 kg of quality apples in the capital's agricultural markets, depending on the variety, is in the range of 1 - 3 lari ($0.3- $0.9).
The main supplier of Georgian apples to the market is the Shida Kartli region.
The apple harvest in Georgia in 2017 was 20,000 tons, in 2018 - 83,000 tons, in 2019 - 44,000 tons.
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