Azernews.Az

By Abdul Kerimkhanov

Azerbaijan has seen increase in the production of fruits and vegetables between January-September 2019.

Thus, as of September 1, 2019, 1.28 million tons of vegetables and 382,400 tons of fruits and berries were harvested in Azerbaijan. These indicators are higher 11.3 percent and 5.6 percent respectively compared to the same period in 2018, according to the data provided by the State Committee of Statistics.

This year’s high crop of fruits and vegetables allows Azerbaijan not only to satisfy demand in the domestic market, but also to increase its supply to foreign markets.

The increase in the production of fruits and vegetables allows the local businessmen employed in this market to increase the volume of agricultural exports abroad.

In January-August 2019, Azerbaijan exported 364,900 tons of agricultural products with a total value of $361.7 million, which is higher 7 percent and 14.5 percent respectively than in 2018

The results of the eight months of 2019 show that the main export products in this area were tomatoes, the supply of which reached 133.200 tons worth $141.5 million; hazelnuts - 14,143 tons with a total value of $76.9 million; apples - 45.23 tons for $18.6 million; as well as persimmons, whose export volume made up 23.8 million tons for a total amount of $18.1 million.

Note that persimmon harvesting is only just starting, and as previous years show, persimmon steadily ranks second after tomatoes in terms of its export potential.

Overall, the export of Azerbaijani products is estimated at $13.52 billion between January-September 2019. Revenues from non-oil products account for only $1.3 billion. Thus, exports of fruits and vegetables account for 27.7 percent of the non-oil sector.

In 2018, as many as 1.52 million tons of vegetables and 1.01 million tons of fruits and berries were harvested, according to the State Statistics Committee. In addition, 621,000 tons of fruits and vegetables were exported with a total value of $560 million last year.

Earlier, "Business outlook in Azerbaijan", report prepared by Deloitte, published the results of a survey aimed at identifying the main sectors of the non-oil sector in Azerbaijan, which will develop rapidly over the next five years.

More than half of the survey respondents – who were financial directors and managers of leading companies in Azerbaijan - said that agriculture and tourism will have the fastest growth in the non-oil sector (69 and 60 percent, respectively).

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Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94

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