BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 10
By Tamilla Mammadova – Trend:
Georgia will harvest 20,000 tons less citrus fruits compared to last year and will get a crop of 40,000 tons, said the Minister of Agriculture of Adjara Giorgi Diasamidze, Trend reports via Georgian media.
According to Diasamidze, a decline in the crop was caused by productivity (which characterizes perennial crops) and abnormal frosts last year, which damaged the plantings.
As he noted, at least 50 percent of standard citrus fruits will be exported; this year Georgian farmers will sell all their crop.
"Due to the pandemic, demand for citrus is growing at the world market as a fruit with the highest source of vitamin C. if the right marketing and work is done, this year will be very successful for our exporters. I’m sure that the COVID-19 restrictions will not hinder either selling or exporting the product. The state will not interfere in the work of enterprises or pricing, however, based on market analysis and observations, we can say that buyers expect the price of citrus will range within 80 tetri (23 cents) to 1.20 lari ($36 cents). As for early citrus fruits, their price ranged from 1.50 lari (45 cents) to 2 lari (60 cents)," he says.
Diasamidze adds that non-standard citrus will be subsidized this year as well, for this purpose 500,000 lari ($149,194) has already been allocated from the budget.
"We have already inspected the enterprise that will start receiving non-standard citrus fruits from November 25-27," he said.
In 2019, the largest mandarin exporters are Russia - 20,000 tons, Ukraine - 5,200 tons.
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