News
18.09.2009
Georgia. Wheat harvests are poor, imports will rise
Despite optimistic predictions by the government, farmers are reporting a dismal wheat harvest that will almost certainly require a hike in imports. Drought has plagued many regions causing a return at record lows. This flies in the face of government projections that had forecast a 15 percent increase in yield over last year.
The numbers speak for themselves: Georgia has produced only 80,000 tons of wheat this year compared to 125,000 tons last year.
Drought has swept through the regions of Shiraki, Kakheti – known colloquially as the “barn of Georgia” – yet a mere 500 kg of wheat was grown per hectare on these rich lands.
“There are very few farmers who grew 1 ton or more,” said Tengiz Gonashvili, chair of Dedoplisksaro Sakrebulo (local council), Kakheti region.
Some farmers didn’t even use mechanical combine harvesters in their fields because of the low yield. Farmer Ilia Zurashvili was among those who still made the risk and hired a combine on his 15 hectares. He said the cost of the machine was more than the value of the crops it harvested.
“Drought hampered wheat growth [so much that] it was just a symbolic move to get the combine in the field,” Zurashvili told GBW. “A number of farmers in my village are in the same boat. I am now wondering how I’m going to pay back the loan.”
The Ministry of Agriculture had projected an output of 1.6 tons per hectare this year, down from 2 tons last year. More wheat was planted this year but poor weather conditions meant less wheat was harvested.
Georgia consumes about 800,000 tons of wheat annually; this year’s domestic production will meet only a tenth of this year’s demand meaning the country will have to look to increasing imports, said Agriculture Minister Bakur Kvezereli.
“Drought cut wheat crops in Kakheti,” Kvezereli said. “Although we had some fields in Kartli too (East Georgia) and harvests are better there but we will still have to increase imports.”
Wheat imports are the fifth largest imported commodity, after pharmaceuticals, and 2.1 percent of total imports during the first half of this year. During the same period last year Georgia imported 50m USD worth of wheat, mostly from Russia, Kazakhstan and Ukraine.
Fortunately Ukraine had a bountiful harvest this year, reporting a record high 21m tons, which may help close the gap. Already talks are underway as the representatives from the Association of Ukrainian Wheat Producers have visited Tbilisi recently.
Georgian Association of Wheat Producers signed a memorandum with their Ukrainian counterparts and thus will receive assistance on developing wheat market transport infrastructure.
A joint Georgian-Ukrainian enterprise would be set up which will grow wheat in Georgia using new technologies as part of the pilot project, reported GBC on Sept. 3.
The new techniques increases crop productivity. Around 4 tons of wheat is produced per hectare in Ukraine.
The government is poised to develop a large scale state program to boost local production of wheat. Similar programs have been successfully implemented in Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Egypt, according to the mInistry of Agriculture.
The state program is focused on creating seed supplies and allocating more land for wheat fields. This year 96,000 hectares of land was allocated for wheat production.
Yet the country can still do more, say growers.
“Georgia has a potential to satisfy 60 percent of demand with locally produced wheat,” Arkadi Mekerishvili, chair of Georgian Association of Wheat Producers told GBW.
Georgian Business Week
