Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia

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Otar Shamugia: "The Program for Supporting Hazelnut Production will be implemented in 2024 as well".

"Under the decision of the Government of Georgia, the ‘’Program for Supporting Hazelnut Production’’ will be implemented in 2024 as well. This program is important for small farmers in terms of increasing their yield and getting better quality hazelnuts", - the Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture, Mr. Otar Shamugia, stated at the meeting with the journalists.

The program was launched for the first time in 2023, and more than 44,000 hectares of hazelnut orchards were registered in the hazelnut cadastre across the country, with up to 90 thousand farmers receiving state support.

This support measure is crucial in terms of assisting small farmers; this is an area where we have low yields and poor quality; we should assist our farmers with this support mechanism, and teach them through sharing knowledge how to take care of their land areas to increase productivity.

For example, large farmers and industrial gardens have yields of two to two and a half tonnes, while small farmers have yields of 700-800 kilograms.
If we can double and improve these indicators, it means that the country will have much more income from the export of hazelnuts. 
We should mention that hazelnuts are mostly exported to the EU market, and this is an important sector.

I have named the number of beneficiaries of this program, this is a source of income for tens of thousands of families. If we improve these indicators with various support mechanisms for small farmers, we will have the opportunity to enter the top three countries that export hazelnuts, which means more income for our country and the population," said Mr. Otar Shamugia.