On July 29, the RA government approved a program on development of seed production in Armenia for 2010-2014 at the amount of AMD 558mln.

Armenian Minister of Agriculture Gerasim Alaverdyan told a briefing that elite sort of wheat will be purchased from Stavropol region of Russia (950t) and local producers (500t) through the funds allocated to the Ministry.

According to him, a working group visited Stavropol region to familiarize itself with the quality of wheat to be imported, as well as with the entire process of its reproduction. Moreover, as per instruction of Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan, governors of all regions of Armenia have submitted lists of those lands, which are appropriate for cultivation of this sort of wheat.

Gerasim Alaverdyan noted that the program basically aims to expand cultivation areas of wheat up to 115,000-120,000 ha, on which 400,000t of wheat will be produced per year. “This will allow increasing the level of wheat provision in the country from 37% to 55%,” he said.

Alaverdyan noted that around 650,000t of wheat are used in Armenia, while most of it is imported.

According to the Minister, wheat seeds will be provided to enterprises for free, and in a year of reproduction the enterprises will be obliged to return the harvest at 1/2 ratio. Force majeure will be foreseen in agreements to be signed with enterprises.

“Besides, an interdepartmental commission will be established to implement and oversee the program,” said Alaverdyan.