A TIME TO REAP THAT WHICH HAS BEEN SOWN

The issue of Azerbaijan's self-subsistence in the agricultural sector is more pressing this year than ever before. The fear of a food crisis, which has forced many countries to revise their agricultural policy, has affected our republic too. In principle, no shortage of any type of food is apparent at the moment, but we do see considerable hikes in the prices of many types of agricultural produce, which forces the country's leadership to take extra steps to stimulate food production.

Results are reassuring

In late August, President Ilham Aliyev issued two decrees simultaneously on an "agrarian theme." In one of them, the Head of State approved the state programme for a reliable food supply to the Azerbaijani population for the period 2008-2015, which envisages the boosting of local production in order to stimulate further improvements in food supply. The other decree concerned additional support for the supply of seeds, fertilizers and pedigree livestock to agribusiness producers. The document states that AZN 25 million will be allocated from the President's reserve fund to the Agroleasing Joint Stock Company in order to increase the production of agribusiness produce, increase demand for highly productive types of wheat seeds, pedigree livestock and mineral fertilizers and to build special warehouses to hold mineral fertilizers and agricultural equipment.

It would be fair to note that the agricultural sector is perhaps one of the most heavily subsidized sectors of the Azerbaijani economy. This is manifested in the allocation of AZN 80 million by the presidential decree of 23 January 2007 to cover 50% of the fuel, lubricant and fertilizer costs to agribusiness during the harvest period, the extension from 5 to 10 years of payment terms for hardware and technical equipment leased or sold by the Agroleasing Joint Stock Company, subsidies of AZN 40 to wheat farmers for every hectare of land planted and payment of subsidies from the national budget for seeds and transplants of 1st and 2nd crops which are sold by seed and plant nurseries.

Thanks precisely to these measures, the total area of arable land reached a record-breaking 1.5 million hectares this year, which is 13.8% more than in 2007. In the first seven months of this year, AZN 1.6 billion worth of agricultural produce was produced, which was 9.3% more than in the corresponding period of last year: there was an increase of 13.9% in crop farming and 3.2% in animal farming.

The area producing both spring and winter crops has increased in the country. In autumn 2007 and spring 2008, spring, winter and pulse plants were sowed on 863,000 hectares, which is 158,100 hectares more than in 2007.

As of 4 August 2008, 2,287,147 tons of wheat had been harvested from 845,821 hectares, which is 482,000 hectares more than in the corresponding period of last year. Despite unstable weather conditions, grain production is expected to increase this year by 500,000 tons, of which almost 370,000 tons will be wheat. The average harvest is 2.7 tons per hectare. The total output of winter, summer, pulse crops and corn in Azerbaijan is set to exceed 2.5 million tons.

...But problems remain

However, as has been noted, one of the main conditions for food security in the country is the rational use of land. Despite the fact that farmed land as a proportion of the total area of arable land increased from 51.1% in 2000 to 81% in 2007, Azerbaijan's agricultural output is still insufficient to ensure the food security of the population from purely domestic crops. One reason for this is the insufficient irrigation of some arable areas to meet agricultural deadlines and the biological requirements of crops. In the mountains, for instance, 40% of land is susceptible to erosion and 47% of irrigated land is saline. Thus, some 657,000 hectares of land require land improvement measures. The total land area of the country is 8.6415 million hectares, of which 4.7565 million are farmland (55% of the total area), but only 1.4326 million hectares (16.6%) are irrigated. The country has 1.8084 million hectares of arable land, but 181,600 hectares are not in use. Whereas in 1959, the per capita arable land index was 0.36 hectares, by 1970 it had fallen to 0.23 hectares, in 1979 - to 0.21 and in 2006 - to just 0.155 hectares. And this is perhaps one of the main problems requiring immediate attention.

Further, one of the most important conditions for the growth of agribusiness in Azerbaijan is the availability of modern hardware to producers. Obsolete equipment and the consequent poor-quality of work results in significant losses of production. The weak material infrastructure of crop farming costs the country AZN 30-40 million annually. In addition to favourable sales terms for farmers, there is probably a need for cheaper hardware on the market. This is probably the aim of the initiators of a project to assemble agricultural vehicles at the Azerbaijan-based ZeyemKendMas factory.

It should be said that all the above-mentioned problems will be resolved, not only within the framework of the recently approved state programme, but also in accordance with strategy guidelines for the development of the agricultural sector over the next five years which have been developed by the Agriculture Ministry. According to Minister Ismat Abbasov, the strategy will outline the priorities in the sector, which will make it easier for investors to select target areas. "At present, both domestic and foreign investors are showing great interest in the agro-industrial complex, but they need to know exactly which areas are considered a priority," said the Minister.