BEHIND THE STATISTICS

The success of the agriculture sector in Azerbaijan today is determined by the production output of 26 main types of produce.  These are grain, flour, bread and bakery products, rice, pastas, potatoes, onions, fruits, meat and meat products, milk and dairy products, cheese, eggs, fish products, butter and so on.  The data for these segments form the core of the country's food balance and determine how self-reliant the republic is in terms of food security.

In the opinion of most experts, the country's agriculture in 2009 worked at full speed and, despite the global economic crisis, Azerbaijani agrarians managed to increase production output by 6% or more.  Production output in just 10 months exceeded last year's by 3.6%.

Year of bread

Of course, grain crops top the list in terms of food security, which is why it is doubly important that Azerbaijani farmers broke another record in 2009.  According to the State Statistical Committee, cereal farmers harvested 2.8 million tons of grain from an area of more than 1 million hectares.  The food grain crop has increased considerably, reaching more than 2.1 million tons.  This far exceeds the country's domestic demand for both durum and common wheat.  Truly, this year was the year of bread.  The decisions by the country's leadership to allocate subsidies of AZN 80 million and to supply producers of agricultural products with seeds, fertilizers and pedigree stock were justified.

However, it seems a lot of grain does not mean yet that the food problem will be totally resolved.  It emerged that in some areas, farmers grew grain which did not meet the requirements of mills and bakeries.  In the chase for hectares, which secured more subsidies, the quality of the grain was forgotten.  Grain with low protein and fibre contents cannot be used in baking.

So now mounds of grain harvested on farms remain in the field.  True, in 2010 this problem will most likely be resolved because new granaries and depots will be built in different economic regions of the country.  According to the National Fund for Enterprise Support at the Ministry of Economic Development, funding for 20 projects to build depots for the storage of cereals in six economic regions has already been allocated.  These depots will be built in the Upper Sirvan, Upper Karabakh, Ganca-Qazax, Saki-Zaqatala and Lankaran-Astara economic regions.  These projects will cost AZN 38.5 million:  the fund will allocate 17.6 million and the rest will be funded by the businessmen themselves.

In the mean time, problems in realizing the final product still had an effect this year.  Sabir Valiyev, head of the crop farming and processing department of the Agriculture Ministry, said that interest in grain farming has fallen dramatically.  In contrast to 2008, sowing winter barley and wheat was dragged out somewhat and lasted until mid-December.  Private farms in the plains particularly lag behind in sowing winter crops.  Perhaps fewer hectares of land will be used for this purpose in 2010 compared to last year.  The reason is clear:  the 2009 crop was added to the grain surplus.  The farmers themselves do not know what should be done with so much grain.  Many farms are losing money, said Valiyev.  This is why next year wheat harvests will be more modest, but there are unlikely to be shortages.

Vegetables all year around

Unlike other sectors, vegetable farming in Azerbaijan works all year round.  The consumer market has fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, greens and spices in every season.  According to official statistics, more than 1.14 million tons of vegetables were harvested in 11 months of 2009.  Harvests increased on farms in the Agdas, Xacmaz, Lankaran and Astara districts.  In areas where vegetable farming is not traditional, the harvests were much smaller.  In total, however, the harvests of vegetables grown all year round increased considerably.

The profitability of the 6,000 hothouse farms which supply vegetables all year round played some role here.  In Absheron alone, there are 3,600, and the rest are in Samkir, Lankaran, Masalli, Salyan, Sirvan, Ucar, Xacmaz and Ganca.

The industrial processing of vegetables has also increased.  Besides the major canned food factories which were put into operation after 2003, the smaller enterprises set up in different regions also process vegetables these days.  Their products are supplied to the retail networks of Baku, Ganca, Sumqayit and other industrial centres of the country.  And the farmers of the Tovuz, Samkir, Calilabad, Barda and Gadabay districts harvested record crops of potatoes and produced about 893,000 tons.  Thanks to the introduction of productive varieties of potatoes from the Netherlands, Germany, Poland and Lithuania, which yield 30-40 tons of harvest per hectare, the production of this "second bread" increased almost tenfold.  On the majority of farms, potatoes are grown using intensive technologies.  The average productivity of one hectare increased by tens of kilos compared to last year, reaching about 20 tons.  There are farms where this figure is 40 tons.  As a result, in a short period of time, Azerbaijan has stopped importing potatoes and, on the contrary, started to export them:  shipments of early crops to the industrial regions of the Russian Federation and to Kazakhstan have increased.

Orchards and vineyards

The process of reviving vineyards continued in the regions:  by late November 2009, more than 108,100 tons of table and wine grapes were harvested.  In accordance with the State Programme for the social and economic development of the regions, in the traditional vine-growing areas agrarian businesses added several thousands of hectares of new vineyards, where French, Italian, Moldovan and Georgian varieties of grape are grown. Grapes were grown in the Saatli District for the first time:  the first harvest demonstrated that the bayan-siray variety grows well in this area of the country which has traditionally specialized in cotton farming.  New vineyards were also started on the Absheron Peninsula.

In 11 months, about 409,000 tons of melons and gourds were harvested and sent to the consumer market.  Productivity per hectare has increased by several tons.  In the same period, 584,100 tons of fruits and berries were harvested.  The canned food industry continued to produce a wide assortment of confections, jams and natural juices.

Problems in lagging sectors

Cotton farming, tea farming and tobacco farming continue to lag behind in the agriculture sector.  The areas under cotton decreased considerably.  While in 2008, about 52,700 tons of raw cotton were harvested from 48,000 hectares, which was much less than in 2007, in 2009, this figure decreased even further.  In 2009, only 21,100 hectares were under cotton, which is half that in 2008.  According to the State Statistical Committee, as of 23 November 2009, 26,000 tons of cotton was harvested on cotton plantations, which is much less than last year's return.  The slow pace of the cotton harvest is accounted for by weather conditions.  As is known, there was rain in the autumn, which caused much damage to farms in the crop farming sector.

"The reduction in areas under cotton plantations has objective and subjective causes," said Rovshan Aliyev, chief expert of the sector at the Agriculture Ministry.  The most important of these is the low purchase price, which does not cover the expenses of private cooperatives, and non-profitable production which yields no profits.  This is why private farms have reoriented themselves and are now sowing more profitable crops in their fields.  Apparently, companies too will in the near future sow cotton in a manner which will make mechanized harvesting possible.  Especially as textile enterprises have already begun to operate in the country, demand for raw materials will increase steadily.

Despite insignificant growth in tobacco farming and tea farming, these sectors remain in crisis.  In November 2009, the tobacco leaf production in the country was 2,500 tons, although 30 years ago, or to be more precise, in 1978, 50,000 tons of tobacco were grown in Azerbaijan, and the sector made profits of 122 million Soviet roubles.  372.7 tons of green tea leaves were produced, which was 13 tons more than last year.  Direct government support is needed to boost this sluggish sector, say the specialists .

Growth in cattle farming

This sector of the agriculture industry worked without glitches all year.  In all 10 economic regions of Azerbaijan, both bovine and small cattle and poultry stocks increased, as did meat, milk and egg production.  The Agriculture Ministry reported that the total stock of bovine cattle was about 2.6 million during the period, which is much more than last year.  The stock of small cattle increased and reached 8.4 million.

In 10 months of 2009, meat production increased by 0.6% by weight, reaching 254,200 tons.  Milk and dairy production reached 1.2 million tons (2.6%).  Positive figures were returned in poultry farming - 991.8 million eggs, an increase of 10.2%.  14,800 tons of wool was produced, an increase of 4.9%.

Vaqif Ramazanov, chief consultant of the animal farming department of the Agriculture Ministry, said that animal farming developed at a fast rate on farms in the Imisli, Lerik, Ismailli, Goranboy and Zaqatala districts.  From 2009, pedigree bovine stock was imported in the republic, mainly from Germany, Russia and Ukraine (about 770 head), which is to be handed over to private stock breeding farms.  Half of the price of cattle is paid by the government, the other half is paid by local farmers.

Forecasts for the future

Summarizing the results, let us note that in the opinion of specialists from the Agriculture ministry, 2009 was the starting point for implementation of the provisions of the State Food Programme.  In conditions of economic crisis, which affects all the leading countries, financial resources have already been allocated for implementation of projects in this sector of the economy.  In 2010, AZN 383 million are to be spent on this sector, however, total funding of the agrarian sector will reach AZN 700 million, said Azer Amiraslanov, head of the agriculture department of the executive apparatus of the Azerbaijani president.  In his words, the subsidies to be issued to farmers next year will amount to AZN 115 million, funding through the Agroleasing Joint Stock Company will reach AZN 35 million, through the Government Agriculture Loaning Agency - AZN 10 million, and through the National Fund for Enterprise Support - AZN 44 million.  In addition, there will be allocations to fund infrastructure development for land amelioration and irrigation.  And taking into account annual tax exemptions for land owners, an additional AZN 149 million will remain in the sector.  In other words, the state will continue to support the agriculture sector - and this is the most important guarantee of its success next year.