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

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Otar Shamugia: "The creation of about 400 new processing enterprises and storage infrastructure has been financed. The value of the products and services provided by these new enterprises exceeds GEL 1.7 billion, while the total costs of the budget exceed GEL 115 million.

During the presentation of the 2023 report, the Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture, Mr. Otar Shamugia, highlighted specific results of the state programs and projects. 

According to the Minister, the area of modern fruit orchards is annually increasing in the country, resulting from one of the most successful state programs - "Plant the Future". Since the program's inception, the state has supported planting up to 22 thousand hectares of modern gardens.

"According to our projections, the value of the produce from state-supported gardens will exceed GEL 150 million by 2023. The harvest from orchards will expand significantly in the coming years, due to forecast indicators and as cultivated trees enter the fructification phase. By 2030, the value of the products produced in the gardens planted under the program will exceed GEL 500 million. The average annual growth rates of individual crops were also reflected in exports amounting to USD 204 million last year.

We can underline not only the conventional fruit export but also the export of such perennial crops, which were exported in limited quantities or not at all in the past years, such as blueberries, bay leaves, etc. The income from blueberry exports exceeded USD 20 million last year. Every year, we expect a significant increase in this indicator, although, a few years ago, we did not export blueberries at all since we did not have any production," said Mr. Otar Shamugia. 

With the increase in production, the Minister stressed the importance of developing post-harvest technologies. Various state support programs have been running for several years to create production infrastructure for product storage and processing.
So far, 400 new processing companies and storage facilities have been supported only through grant programs.

The value of the products and services provided by these new enterprises exceeds GEL 1.7 billion, while the total costs of the budget exceed GEL 115 million.
It is also worth noting that the storage infrastructure ensures the storage of up to 146 thousand tonnes of products following modern standards.