Will The Government’s Plant the Future Program Make Georgia Self-Sufficient?

Plant the Future is a new, ambitious program initiated by Ministry of Agriculture of Georgia, which will see 15 million GEL spent on it over the next two years. The main goal of the project is to decrease the volume of import and increase the usage of arable land, enabling farmers and businessmen to create higher quality products. The farmers who decide to create perennial plant orchards and nursery gardens will receive both financial and technical support from the government.

In case of orchards, financial support includes providing beneficiaries with monetary funds for purchasing saplings and creating modern irrigation systems. Up to 70 percent of sapling and 50 percent of irrigation system costs will be provided by the state.

As for nursery gardens, financial support from the government will involve co-financing expenses of creating such infrastructure. The government will finance up to 50 percent of the total cost, as long as it does not exceed 150,000 GEL.

Peach, plum, wild plum, cherry, currants, gooseberry, raspberries, bilberry, persimmon, pomegranate, kiwi, feijoa, walnuts, almonds, nuts and apples are all perennial plants. A vast majority of orchards aimed at growing them will be built in the regions.

As Levan Dolidze, manager of Plant the Future program told Georgian Journal, the idea of the project was dictated by the current situation in the country. At the moment, most perennial cultures in Georgia are terribly obsolete.

“A large portion of our orchards was built in the 1970s and 1980s. Many of the breeds are outdated and the technologies used for taking care of them are also archaic. This results in low-end harvests and inability to satisfy modern demands on international markets, such as, for example, that of the European Union,” Levan Dolidze said.

According to him, as the project progressed, it became evident that some changes had to be made. Because of this, olive and hazelnut were added to Kakheti region’s list of available perennial cultures, hazelnut to Adjara’s list and apple to Mtskheta-Mtianeti’s.

More than 10 beneficiaries have already received financial support within the new program’s framework.

George Mamestsarashvili counts himself among the first recipients of state funding. At the moment, 15 people are employed in construction of his apple orchard.

“I heard about this program in January. My project had a total cost of 140,000 GEL and it was co-financed. This is a big step ahead, and we will see its tangible results in two or three years,” says George Mamestsarashvili.

Alexi Kukhelidze, another beneficiary, had 70 percent of his orchards’ construction and 50 percent of irrigation system’s setup financed. His orchards currently employ 30 people.

In order for Georgian fruit to reach the European market, it must satisfy GLOBAL GAP standards, which apply to quality of both packaging and the actual fruit. In Europe, a lot of attention is given to the way a farmer plants the seeds, which pesticides he uses and how stringently hygiene norms are upheld.

According to Eurostat, there is a nine percent increase in apple production in EU countries when compared to 2014. This stat, however, is not true in case of nuts, walnuts, pomegranates and almonds. Within the new program’s framework, pomegranates and almonds are to be produced in Kakheti and Kvemo Kartli. Production of walnuts will be co-financed in every region except Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti, Guria and Adjara. Nut orchards can be built in Imereti, Racha-Lechkhumi-Qvemo Svaneti, Guria and Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti. It is noteworthy that the Plant the Future program does not apply to production of pears.

Plant the Future has been praised by Juan Echanove, Food Safety and Rural Development Attaché of EU Delegation to Georgia. “It is important to subsidize purchase of seedlings and implement a seed certification system in Georgia in order to make sure that seeds sold to the farmers meet the required standard. This is an issue on which ENPARD is intensely working at the moment,” he told Georgian Journal.

Echanove believes Georgia has the potential to replace imported products with its own.

“This is a very good program indeed, but I do not think it has anything to do with export to Europe. Georgia is importing 80 percent of its food. Thus, the most basic and urgent thing any farmer has to do for Georgia is to contribute to replacement of imports with native-produced goods. Another thing is that the European market is very complex, and right now, the gap between Georgian and European standards is quite large. There are many other markets that could become interested in Georgian products, such as the Armenian, Russian, Ukrainian and so on. However, Georgia is strong when it comes to specific products, namely hazelnuts and wine. Europe could be interested in importing these,” he said.

According to Echanove, it is very difficult to export apples from Georgia to Europe because Georgia produces a very limited quantity of apples, while entering the European market requires massive volumes of them.

“Georgia is blessed with the ability to have a very perse agricultural field. Some of your products have a potential of being exported worldwide, so Europe should not be the only dimension for you to work on. We also have to keep in mind that Europe needs a permanent supply of goods and Georgia cannot guarantee that yet. But I can certainly see some niches for high-quality apples or some specific products such as kiwi or berries. As for the products that you already export to Europe, like wine or hazelnuts, they carry the potential of multiplying your exports. Right now prices of Georgian hazelnuts are lower than Turkey’s because of Georgia’s lower quality standards. If they are improved, hazelnut production will become a very lucrative business for Georgia,” said Echanove.

He also claimed that at the moment there is huge market for honey in Europe due to it producing less and less honey every year. Bees are dying in Europe, and the gap left by them is now being filled by cheap Chinese honey, which can’t even hold a candle to Georgian honey in terms of quality.

Echanove opines that the potential for Georgia lies in boosting the already ongoing exports of traditional products such as hazelnuts and wine and finding a niche for exporting specific products like kiwi, anchovies, honey and berries. However he thinks that our country’s chances is limited when it comes to mainstream agricultural produce such as vegetables, meat and diary products.

Author: Mari Javakhishvili