BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 6
By Tamilla Mammadova – Trend:
New cherry orchards have been planted on an area of more than 200 hectares in Georgian Shida Kartli region within the framework of the "Plant the Future" state program, Trend reports with reference to the Ministry of Agriculture of Georgia.
The "Plant the Future" program began in March 2015 and is part of the "Preferential Agricultural Credit" state program aimed at helping farmers purchase seedlings for renovation and planting of orchards.
Since the start of the program, new perennial gardens have been laid out across the country on an area of 12,900 hectares. In total, government co-financing exceeds 81.1 million lari (approximately $25.7 million).
Agriculture Minister Levan Davitashvili, together with the Governor of the Shida Kartli region Valerian Mchedlidze examined a new cherry orchard in the village of Mejvriskhevi in the Gori municipality.
The 'Cherie LLC' company has planted a garden on 11 hectares of land. The co-financing of the Rural Development Agency amounted to $112,000 lari ($35,500). For the construction of the well, the company received financing in the amount of 18,000 lari ($5,700).
Cherie LLC is the beneficiary of the concessional agricultural lending program. The loan amount for planting a garden exceeds 1.5 million lari ($474,000).
“This year, farmers are especially active; more than 7,000 contracts are planned, which is an unprecedentedly large number. The garden of the company was built using modern technologies and, to great joy, they have Georgian-made irrigation systems, as well as local hail structures, concrete pillars that have been produced in Georgia in recent years,” Davitashvili said.
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