THE BILASUVAR SUN OF AZERSUN

As one of the most important economic principles goes, "demand generates supply". From this standpoint, although agricultural produce has always been in demand, it is still quite problematic for farmers to sell the harvest that has taken so much time and energy. What matters here is how fast produce can be sold, how far it will have to be transported, what prices wholesale buyers will agree to, etc. The successful resolution of all these tasks is the main incentive for farmers to continue production. 

In other words, to ensure the country's food security, both agricultural workers and processing enterprises interested in their products should be working in close cooperation. Therefore, the most successful businesses in Azerbaijan are those that are able to combine the entire production process, so to speak, on the basis of the principle from the field to the consumer's table. And perhaps, the clearest example of this is Azersun Holding enterprises, including in the country's Bilasuvar District.

Founded in Azerbaijan in 1991, the Azersun Holding group of companies is the leader in food production, trade and agriculture in the country. 

As a major producer and exporter of Azerbaijan, Azersun Holding has played an important role in the country's agricultural sector due to the large capacity of its plants and the extensive network of export markets. The main principles of the holding are a coordinated control system, taking into account the views of buyers, quality assurance, implementation of projects in the area of social responsibility and environmental protection.

All of these principles prevail in the activities of the holding in Bilasuvar District, where Azersun has a large enterprise called Natural Green Land, created in 2008 to make various kinds of agricultural produce. In order to establish a manufacturing process that meets the highest standards of quality, the company is equipped with modern farming equipment and hardware from recognized world famous leaders. Beets, tomatoes, corn, green peas, corn, cucumbers, peppers, squash and other vegetables are cultivated here. Pomegranate and quince orchards have been laid out in an area of hundreds of hectares.

However, it was not so easy to secure the successful implementation of this project in Bilasuvar, because the district's soil is problematic, requiring a special caring attitude. There are more than 2 million hectares of such infertile lands in Azerbaijan, and it is necessary to make them suitable for cultural cultivation.

Azersun Holding has carried out comprehensive work on land reclamation, revegetation and improvement of soil fertility in an area of 3,400 hectares in Bilasuvar District.

According to Akif Asgarov, the chief consultant for the introduction of advanced scientific achievements at Azersun Holding, nothing was cultivated in the region before and the land was used only for grazing. The fact is that groundwater is very close to the surface here and during heavy rains or irrigation, it evaporates and causes salinization of soil. "Our task was to remove the groundwater through a drainage system. This process is very time-consuming and requires considerable material resources, for example, from 4,000 to 6,000 manats per 1 hectare of land, depending on the condition of the soil," Asgarov said.

He said that huge drain sewers were built in the middle of the last century to remove groundwater from these zones of the republic. They run from the Mingacevir reservoir through the Kura-Araz plain and empty into the Caspian Sea. Then branches were added to these sewers to cover more territory. These branches were connected to the drainage sewers of our site. As for the intensive removal of groundwater from our land, a closed drainage system was built here at a depth of 2-3 metres with state funding, which helped resolve the problem. In total, the holding has invested over 27 million manats to date to address the complex tasks of intensive farming in this area.

At the same time, there was another challenge - to establish an optimal economical irrigation system. Scientists from different countries racked their brain to create a system of uniform watering. According to the Azersun specialist, sorting through all the options, it was decided to focus on the latest technology - a radial sprinkler developed by the US firm Valmont, whose equipment is sufficiently durable and economical.

The third problem, which the holding undertook to solve, is to increase the fertility of the soil layer. "The soil should be 'fed' by fertilizers in strict compliance with its requirements. This requires a systematic analysis of the soil, and on this basis, we derive a formula for uniform and rational fertilizing of land," Asgarov explained. As a result, Azersun Holding received an international certificate from the Global GAP system. That is this system allows the use of both organic and inorganic fertilizers, but strictly according to the formula derived on the basis of soil analysis. "The thing is that, along with macrofertilizers (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium), the soil needs micronutrient fertilizers - calcium, zinc, sulphur, magnesium, boron and molybdenum. Although they are used in scanty amounts, they are necessary for generating immunity, for organoleptic properties, vitamins and minerals that are important to the consumer. And as for environmentally friendly products, it should be noted that Azersun Holding, which was the first to become interested in this question in our country, allocated 300 hectares of land for the cultivation of so-called eco-friendly products, using as a fertilizer bacterially fermented manure, which is also certified as a fertilizer. In the age of nanotechnology, human thought has moved so far that it is capable of studying nature and correcting its errors. Simply, everything must be approached from a scientific point of view, comprehensively and rationally," says the chief consultant of the holding for the introduction of advanced scientific achievements.

It should be noted here that a plant to produce bio-fertilizers is currently being built in Bilasuvar as part of the Natural Green Land enterprise, which will undoubtedly provide an opportunity to stop using inorganic fertilizers in the coming years.

This well-organized production chain is the basis of high quality products of Azersun Holding, in particular the Bilasuvar cannery which was opened in 2009. The plant, located on 6 hectares of territory, produces canned green peas, squash, pickles, tomato paste, fruit drinks, etc. with a total production capacity exceeding 25 tonnes per year. The raw material is totally provided by the Natural Green Land agricultural complex, i.e. only the freshest raw materials are used, which affects the quality of the finished product.

The company has introduced advanced technology of canning in tin, glass and aseptic packaging. In a word, in the future it is planned to star producing frozen fruits and berries. In general, the plant employs 70 people, but in the seasonal period, the number of employees increased to 450.

All of the above once again confirms the correctness of Azersun Holding's strategy of establishing the production process, where you can easily establish control over the quality and achieve the best results.