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Meeting with hazelnut growers
The Prime Minister of Georgia, Mamuka Bakhtadze along with the Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture, Levan Davitashvili visited hazelnut processing plant in Zugdidi municipality. The sides met with hazelnut growers, summed up the results achieved in the fight against the Asian stink bug and evaluated outcomes of the Hazelnut Survival Program.
As was mentioned, active cooperation with the government, international partners and private sector within three years enabled to minimize the spread of Asian stink bug and save the hazelnut crop.
Levan Davitashvili stated, that hazelnut sector faced a great challenge due to the spread of Asian stink bug and fungal diseases in recent years, which resulted disastrously for the residents of the region, apparently losing their source of income.
“In line with the implemented activities to combat the invasive pest, the Ministry along with the Hazelnut Growers Association developed a 'Hazelnut Crop Survival Program', under which the complex measures were taken. Under the program, we delivered necessary equipment to farmers and financed their training and retraining courses. 60 specialists have been working with farmers on a regular basis, which resulted in one of the best hazelnut crop to receive this year ”said Levan Davitashvili.
The Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture expressed gratitude to the US Government for their support to Georgia.
‘’We should note, that close cooperation with with the US government is of utmost importance for us. The US government has assisted Georgia to effectively implement pest control measures and take combat-based activities against other invasive pests to ultimately save the hazelnut crop. For the past two years, the USAID has provided $ 6.5 million to Georgia to combat the invasive pest. Moreover, the above mentioned assistance included 45 American- vehicles, which were actively engaged in the fight against the Asian stink bug ”Levan Davitashvili said.
The US Ambassador to Georgia, Elizabeth Rood, Governor of Samegrelo region, Alexandre Motserelia, as well as representatives of local and legislative bodies and international donor organizations attended the meeting with hazelnut growers.
At the end of the meeting, the Minister together with honorable guests paid a visit to the hazelnut processing plant "Geo-Nuts".
The hazelnut processing enterprise ‘’Geo-Nuts’’ was established within the United Agro Project. Totally GEL 2 780 000 was invested in the plant, out of which GEL 600 000 is a grant and GEL 1 214 000 preferential agro credit. The enterprise can process up to 7000-10000 tons of hazelnuts per year and produce various types of products (roasted kernels, chopped kernels, flour). The aforementioned products are intended for export to different countries. The processing plant employs 100 people. In 2018, with the support of the Agricultural Projects Management Agency, an international standard for food safety - ISO 22: 000 was introduced in the enterprise.