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President: Azerbaijan will turn into a country exporting agricultural products

20 October 2016 11:36 (UTC +04:00)

The head of state noted that we firstly must meet our demand: “We are still unable to meet our demand for grain. Therefore, an attention must be paid to the grain-growing in order to meet domestic demand. We should try to use our natural conditions, fertile soils effectively and use arable land which has not been used so far. For this purpose, agrotechnical, special irrigation measures are being taken, local authorities have also joined these works. We have a plan to make 10 thousands of hectares of land usable per year. Next year, 80-90 thousand hectares of lands will be cultivated through the local authorities. In the near future, a broader program will be prepared to cultivate at least 100,000 hectares land. So, we’ll turn into a country exporting agricultural products. We have all opportunities for this. State policy is being conducted. Farmers are supported, subsidies are paid, fertilizers, fuels are allocated under preferential conditions. National Entrepreneurship Support Fund allocated AZN 1 billion preferential loans during the recent years and this process is underway. AZN 200 million is planned to be allocated this year and at least the same amount will be allocated next year”.

The president said that processing enterprises should be created: “Agricultural, processing and industrial enterprises are a complex. So, a few years later, Azerbaijan’s dependence on oil and gas factors will be reduced. This is our goal. Moreover, the agriculture involves thousands, ten thousands of people in work. People return to the land because of observing state support. Their financial situation improves. Population in Azerbaijan approximately increases 100 people per year. Therefore, we must engage in creation of new jobs. Agriculture is special in this issue. We must take into account that several lands are not irrigated yet. IN the coming years, these lands will be usable and modern agricultural enterprises will be created in here. Cold storage will also be constructed in the future. At the same time, the increase of production in here will create a potential of export”.