WEATHER PERMITTING

The manufacture of vegetable products is one of Azerbaijan's major agricultural sectors. Favourable climatic conditions facilitate the growing of dozens of different kinds of fruit and vegetables in the country. Organically grown foods in fresh and canned form are placed on the domestic market and exported. This year, as shown by statistics, the volume of agricultural production has reduced noticeably. The reason is clear -the floods and drought which had negative effects on crop yields.

Back in the 1970s and 1980s, trains loaded with early cabbage travelled from Azerbaijan to Moscow and other parts of the Soviet Union, and the fruit and vegetable conveyor worked until late autumn. In addition to government supplies, businessmen from the southern regions exported fresh tomatoes and cucumbers to Leningrad, Arkhangelsk and Murmansk. Every year, Russia's industrial centres received over 350,000 tons of vegetables and 200,000 tons of fruit and berries from our republic. A huge stream of canned products also went in the same direction.

Once Azerbaijan gained its independence, the geography of fruit and vegetables supplies expanded. Today, Azerbaijan exports 25 varieties of agricultural products to more than 85 countries worldwide. The main supplies are early potatoes, cabbage, fruit, sugar powder, tea, juice and vegetable oil. The food cargoes go to Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Turkey, Iran and other countries. 

These products come from private farmers, industrial and commercial companies, joint stock companies, rural communities and cooperatives.

Azerbaijan's annual production of vegetables amounts to over one million tons. Almost as many potatoes and more than 600,000 tons of fruit and berries are supplied, which means that domestic demand is met in full and high quality products are also sent abroad.

While in 2004 agricultural products worth approximately $41 million were exported, in 2007 nearly $450 million were sent abroad, i.e. shipments to other countries increased more than tenfold.

The main exports are fresh produce, sold mainly in the CIS. Meat, dairy products, fruit and vegetables are produced and processed by more than 150 large and small businesses.

Export capacities have developed over the years, overcoming various obstacles. Here the dynamics of the Azerbaijani agricultural industry's exports are of interest. According to official statistics, the export of certain agricultural products of plant origin increased from 2000 to 2008. Thus, supplies of flour rose by 5 times, sugar and sugar powder - by 3.5 times, vegetable oils - 6.3 times etc.

The successful exporters are Azersun Holding (oil, tea and canned food), the Caspian Fish Co-Azerbaycan (seafood), Gilan, the Bakfem and Elfem nut processing companies and several wineries.

The Azersun Holding group of companies, which was launched in 1991, is the leading exporter of products. Today it is a recognized leader in exporting tea, canned food, sunflower, olive, corn and vegetable oil. Azersun Holding has its own offices and distribution agencies in countries such as Afghanistan, Belarus, Iraq, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Moldova, Turkey etc.

Juices, olive oil, alcoholic beverages and canned products made by the Gilan group of companies have good prospects for export to neighbouring countries. Jale juices, produced from high quality raw materials from the USA, Turkey and Azerbaijan, are exported to Russia, Georgia, Kazakhstan and even Germany. Other units of the company - Agroazarinvest and Azarspirt - produce dozens of varieties of wine, brandy and vodka with up-to-date equipment and send some of their products to Russia and Ukraine. The company owns more than a thousand hectares of vineyards and hundreds of hectares of olive groves. The range of Gilan products was extended recently to include high quality olive oil, produced with the most advanced technology of cold pressing.

Products made by a number of canneries in the Saki-Zaqatala region and the Bakfem, Gilan and Elfem factories, which specialize in processing nuts, also have good export prospects. The Goycay cannery AZNAR, which specializes in the production of pomegranate juice, has great potential, too.

The company MiriPAK also successfully exports tomato paste, pomegranate juice and narsarab. A characteristic feature of canning production on the Abseron peninsula is the dynamic development of olive processing enterprises. They supply crude, 100-per-cent olive oil to Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Kuwait.

The state programme on sustainable food supplies for 2008-2015, approved in August 2008, provides for the implementation of a new strategy for the country's agricultural development. Its main objective is to gradually reduce the amount of food imported, replace it with local products and increase exports of the products of agricultural processing. In the next 5-6 years, the domestic food industry should meet 80 per cent of domestic demand and become predominantly export-oriented.

According to the State Statistics Committee, in 7 months of 2010, Azerbaijan exported 323.5 million dollars' worth of agricultural products: vegetables - $20.9 million, fruit - $20.5 million, sugar - $83 million, potatoes - $15.6 million, canned fruit and vegetables - $2.8 million, juice - $10.5 million, vegetable oil - $43.5 etc.

From January-July 2010, the export of fruit and vegetables fell by 22.38 per cent, as compared with the corresponding period of 2009.

According to the Novosti-Azerbaijan news agency, the volume of agricultural production in Azerbaijan to 1 August this year fell by 10 per cent year on year. The largest decline was registered in plant-growing, which decreased by 18.5 per cent. According to the State Statistics Committee, in eight months of this year, only 930,000 tons were collected from the country's fields, which is 13,000 tons less than last year.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, almost all the independent post-Soviet states began to create anew the contractual and institutional framework of trade and economic relations.

In the first years of independence, Russia remained Azerbaijan's main economic partner, but the volume of bilateral trade declined rapidly and fell to its lowest point in 1995, to less than $200 million. In subsequent years, trade turnover between the two countries began to increase, reaching $2.5 billion in 2008. Based on the results of that year, Azerbaijan was 11th in the table of suppliers of fruit (3.23 per cent of total deliveries) and vegetables (3.53 per cent) to Russia.

Fresh fruit, vegetables, fruit and vegetable juices, canned food, flowers and other plant products are also exported from Azerbaijan to other post-Soviet countries. Several local companies have already started to explore European markets. With the restoration and development of the rural infrastructure, improvement of the agricultural crediting system and other measures provided by appropriate state programmes, the Azerbaijani agrarian industry will pick up even greater momentum. Weather permitting.