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

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Otar Shamugia visited the hazelnut orchard planted with Georgian-Jewish investment.

.The Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture, Mr. Otar Shamugia, visited the hazelnut orchard of the company MMG Agriculture in the village of Kvemo Kvaloni, Khobi Municipality, where he met with the hazelnut farmers who own the industrial hazelnut orchards.

"We often meet with the farmers and get familiar with their current needs. The hazelnut industry has enormous potential in Georgia, and our objective is to assist farmers to the greatest extent possible, both financially and also by having access to the necessary knowledge. Farmers who grow high-quality crops will be more competitive and earn more income. 

We should emphasize that 2023 was a challenging year concerning climatic conditions, which posed some quality-related challenges. Although last year's harvest was 5,000 tonnes more than the previous year, we expect a significantly higher yield in 2024. We hope that the state programs and farmers' activities will jointly give us a good result", said Mr. Otar Shamugia.

Through Georgian-Jewish investment, the Company ''MMG Agriculture'' has planted a hazelnut orchard covering over 300 hectares. 

The state initiative "Plant the Future" provided GEL 50,000 for planting a hazelnut orchard on 50 hectares of agricultural land. Paata Siradze, the company's owner, claims that he took advantage of the preferential agro-credit for the same reason, with the funding exceeding GEL 1.5 million.

It is worth mentioning that, under the "Plant the Future" initiative, the planting of new perennial gardens on 3,291 hectares is co-financed with GEL 43 million in the Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti region, including the planting of new hazelnut gardens on 505 hectares with GEL 1.2 million. 

More than GEL 123 million in preferential agro-credit have been allocated in the Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti region for horticulture development, including GEL 9.1 million for hazelnut growing.