New fruits and vegetables coolhouse opens in Vayots Dzor

PanARMENIAN.Net - A refrigerated store of fruits and vegetables opened in Zaritap village of Vayots Dzor region, Armenia.

The coolhouse was constructed through financing of Water to Market program of Millennium Challenge Fund-Armenia SNCO and program on social security of Oxfam British organization. It belongs to Zaritap and Gerger consumer cooperatives with participation of 64 farmers. The cell with an area of 140 cubic meters is supplied with refrigeration equipment and secures storage of above 40t of agricultural products.

Oxfam Armenia Subsidiary Director Margarita Hakobyan said that it is one of the projects of the five-year program on sustainable social security of rural areas that will be implemented in Vayots Dzor and Tavush regions in 2010-2015. “The program will assist 4,000 farmers from 40 communities of the regions. The program assists poor rural communities and promotes production of ecologically clean agricultural products,” she said.

Water to Market Team Leader Richard Harelbrink said that Armenia needs similar cold stores to expand and develop the country’s fruit farming. “They provide farmers with more stable market opportunities. Similar facilities provide with the opportunity to decrease losses during harvesting,” he said.