Horticulture to be developed in Armenia

PanARMENIAN.Net - By Armenian government’s decision, Armenian Fruit OJSC has been formed with a purpose to develop horticulture in the country and export fresh fruit and nuts to foreign markets.

As Armenian Agriculture Minister Sergo Karapetyan noted, the company is established as part of the program aimed at poverty reduction, income increase and life quality improvement in Armenian rural areas.

In his comments, Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan noted that government has great expectations with this program implementation.

“Productivity should be boosted, new technologies should be introduced to help our farmers get more abundant harvest," he noted.

Out of USD 52 million used for Armenian Fruit OJSC esyablishment, USD 13.5million was provided by IFAD, USD 20 million by OPEC, USD 3.5 million by Danish government. Beneficiaries’ contribution is estimated at USD 3 million. USD 11 million is co-financed by the Armenian government.

The company will focus on seedlings import and processing, storage, sorting and sales of the final product, as well as provision of refrigerators for goods storage, logistics and export contacts. Program envisages creation of 700 hectares of orchards for intensive development.