Levan Davitashvili held a press conference
At the Ministry of Agriculture of Georgia, Levan Davitashvili held a press conference, where journalists had opportunities to be acquainted with the most current activities undertaken in the field of agriculture. The Minister brought forward issues related to the opening ceremony of the exhibition event \'\'Georgia - Cradle of Wine\'\' in the Wine Civilization Center \"Cité des Civilisations Du Vin\" in France, Bordeaux.
Georgia is the first invited country, which opens a cycle of viticulture and winemaking exhibitions at the Wine Civilization Center and will be the honorable host of the Wine Civilization Museum. The exhibition will open on July 31 of the current year, it will last for 4 months and subsequently will be closed in late November.
Levan Davitashvili thanked the Director General of the National Museum Davit Lortkipanidze for the very interesting exhibition, which will be held in the Wine Civilization Center in Bordeaux.
The Minister gave a detailed account on grain crops related harvesting activities and noted that the annual grain harvest season is in full swing. Wheat output in 2017 is forecast at 260 500 tonnes (3,1 tons per hectare); forecast for barley output is 110 000 tons (2,5 t per hectare). The harvest is underway in Kakheti, Kvemo Kartli, Shida Kartli, Mtskheta-Mtianeti, Imereti and Samegrelo regions. 86 farming machinery of the LLC. ‘’Mekanizatori’’ is involved in the harvesting process. At this stage 114 559 tons of wheat and 20,000 tons of barley is harvested already. The coordination headquarter has been created and engaged in the crop collecting and farming processes to ensure harvest to run smoothly and without any hindrance .
As for the peach harvest, totally 16 508 tons of peaches are already sold, from which 3 212 tons are exported and 13 338 tons are sold on the local markets.
At the press conference, discussions also included the latest breaking news on Georgian dried herbs and spices. According to the Minister, the reliability and validity of Georgian spices have been explored thoroughly by the Ministry of Agriculture. The number of heavy metals in Georgian products meets the established permissible limits. Although, the facts that have been observed require additional study to determine the cause of the problem. The National Food Agency of the Ministry of Agriculture continues laboratory testing for heavy metals, especially on lead levels, accordingly the population of Georgia will be provided with the results later.
It should be noted, that there is no restriction on Georgian spices today and the spices are exported to over 30 countries, including EU countries, moreover, there is no restriction on export of Georgian products to the US as well.
Georgian hazelnut is included in the list of topical issues. Hazelnut sector faces serious challenges in many countries around the world, including Georgia.
The insecticide treatments and preventive measures against dangerous Asian Bug during Stage first is over. Despite the abundant rainfall, 50 000 hectares have been treated in Georgia and Adjara region to combat the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug in western Georgia.As a result of repeated monitoring, the spread of pests has been significantly reduced. It is noteworthy, that the intensity and larger amount of rainfall in May-June of this year created favorable conditions for the spread of fungal diseases.
The specialists will develop recommendations and information will be provided promptly to farmers in order to carry out preventive measures. An absolutely overwhelming campaign was added to the above mentioned information on the alarming amount of drugs in the Georgian hazelnut. Journalists have received information from Euro Commission Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF).about the statistics related to the aspergillus flavus detected in Georgian hazelnut.
RASFF sent Georgia 9 messages in 2016, and 2 messages in 2017, while Turkey received 74 messages from (RASFF) related to nuts and hazelnut crops (hazelnut, hazelnuts, pusta, nuts) however in 2016, Turkey has 37 cases, and in 2017 - 35 messages have been sent on nuts and hazelnut crops, whereby only 11 cases covered hazelnut. In 2016, Italy received 58 while in 2017 - 29 messages.
At the press conference journalists were provided with an information, which included a six months data on Georgian wine export. According to the six months data 2017, 31.5 million bottles of wine have been exported in 44 countries around the world, which is 59% higher than the same figure last year. Exported wine amounted to 70.5 million US dollars, which is 51% more than the same figure in 2016. Export have been increased in EU, China, the US and other markets.
It should be noted, that 35.3 million bottles are exported according to July 18, 2017 data, which is 57% higher than the same figure in the previous year.
At the press conference, the Minister answered all questions posed by the journalists.