Azernews.Az

By Mirsaid Ibrahimzade

The implementation of the third State Program on the socio-economic development of regions, the upgrade of regional and rural infrastructure facilitate the development of such an industry as grain growing, on which Azerbaijan’s food security largely depends.

As of July 30, the grain was harvested from an area of 1,003,743 hectares, which is about 99 percent of the total area of the crops. The harvested grain includes 341,116 hectares of barley and 662,627 hectares of wheat.

So far, 3,161,692.4 tons of grain has been harvested in the country, with an average yield of 31.4 centners per hectare, Azerbaijan Ministry of Agriculture said in a message.

Grain harvesting is completed in Absheron, Agdam, Agdash, Agjabadi, Agstafa, Agsu, Astara, Balakan, Beylagan, Barda, Bilasuvar, Jalilabad, Jabrayil, Dashkasan, Shabran, Fuzuli, Naftalan, Goychay, Hajigabul, Khachmaz, Khizi, Imishli, Ismayilli, Kurdamir, Gakh, Gabala, Guba, Masalli, Nefchala, Oguz, Saatli, Sabirabad, Salyan, Siyazan, Terter, Tovuz, Ujar, Yevlakh, Zagatala, and Zardab regions of the country.

Grain harvesting in Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, Gobustan, Shamakhi and Sheki regions is also nearing completion.

In the Gobustan region, all 9,382 hectares sown with barley have been harvested, and 21,948 out of 22,258 hectares sown with wheat have been collected. The yield for barley and wheat in the region is 23.7 and 25.3 centners per hectare, respectively.

In the Nakhchivan AR, 8,469 out of 8,579 hectares sown with barley were collected, and 23,037 out of 24,729 hectares of wheat were gathered. Barley yield in this region is 29.7 centners per hectare, and the yield of wheat is 31 centners per hectare.

High results in grain harvesting were also reached in the Goranboy, Shamkir and Gusar regions.

The highest yield in wheat is being observed in Barda and Saatli regions: it is 44.3 and 42.39 centners per hectare, respectively. As for barley, the highest yield was achieved in Barda and Sabirabad regions. Yield in Barda’s barley fields is 38.9 centners per hectare, and in Sabirabad – 37.7 centners per hectare.

In general, the biggest wheat fields are located in Jalilabad and Sheki – 54,908 and 46,094 hectares, respectively. As for barley, Kurdamir with 29,926 hectares of sown area and Nefchala with 32,145 hectares have the largest fields of this crop.

Azerbaijan imported about 1 million tons of wheat worth $205,967 in 2018. Taking into account the data provided by State Customs Committee, the imports recorded decrease by 193,528 tons or 15.2 percent in annual comparison, and in the cost - by $21,200 or 9.3 percent. Wheat imports accounted for 1.8 percent of the country's total imports.

Azerbaijan develops grain growing by intensive ways, in particular, by attracting new and innovative technologies, which will increase productivity, as well as by building the appropriate infrastructure and improving human resources.

At the same time, implementing agro-technical measures, conducting researches for determining the areas of crops and ensuring the timely collection and preservation of these products are of significant importance for improving the quality of local grains.

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Mirsaid Ibrahimzade is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @MirsaidIbrahim1

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