BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 11.
Product subsidies are aimed at offsetting expendures in Azerbaijan,
the Minister of Agriculture Majnun Mammadov said during a public
hearing held at the Parliament's Agrarian Policy Committee about
the tasks arising from the "State Program for the Development of
Agricultural Production and Processing, Fisheries, and Aquaculture
for 2026–2030", Trend's
correspondent reports from the event.
“Unfortunately, some farmers do not fully implement
agrotechnical maintenance measures, preferring to fertilize without
conducting soil analysis, and modern irrigation technologies are
not applied at the proper level. However, our main goal here is to
achieve high productivity by using modern irrigation systems in
specialized regions,” he noted.
According to him, today, about 50% of grain crops in Azerbaijan
are located in rainfed areas and in the context of climate change,
it’s impossible to achieve a significant increase in productivity
solely through rainfed agriculture.
“Of course, the introduction of new varieties, the creation of
drought-resistant varieties and the expansion of scientific
research can yield certain results. However, the current amount of
precipitation in the country is not enough to achieve high
productivity in all areas. Therefore, water supply is a key
condition. We can achieve high productivity only in areas where
water is provided and modern irrigation technologies are
applied.
Let me give a simple example. Last year, the average
productivity of farms that joined the food wheat program and
applied modern irrigation systems was 5.8 tons. This indicator is
much higher than the average productivity in the country. If 22,000
hectares of land were covered under that program last year, this
figure has already reached 29,000 hectares. We believe that this
indicator will increase further in the coming years,” the minister
explained.
According to Mammadov, reducing crop losses and post-harvest
losses is also very important. One of the main reasons we encourage
the creation of cold storage facilities, and especially grain
silos, is precisely to improve crop storage conditions and minimize
losses.
“Today, in various regions of the country, we observe that
grain, wheat, barley and corn are still stored in warehouses by
pouring, sometimes even without being packed in bags. Under such
conditions, the product is subject to losses of 10, 20, and in some
cases up to 30 % during storage from one season to another due to
humidity, moisture and other factors. To solve this problem, it is
important to create modern grain silos.
That is why the state program envisages increasing the number of
cold storages and grain silos. This will also serve to expand
logistics capabilities.
Logistics and sales issues were touched upon. It was noted that
this direction wasn’t directly and widely reflected in the state
program. However, in fact, the program indirectly serves the
development of these areas. Cold storages and grain silos help
solve logistics problems, and crop subsidies expand sales
opportunities.
For example, some farmers are dissatisfied with the price
difference between table fruit on the market and fruit delivered to
the processing industry. However, it should be noted that
industrial products can never be sold at the same price as table
products. High-quality, sorted and table-grade fruit is sold at a
higher price. Products that don’t pass the sorting stage must be
sent for processing,” he clarified.
Mammadov pointed out that due to the relatively low price of
industrial products, some farmers aren’t interested in harvesting
and delivering them to processing plants.
“For this reason, the crop subsidies we apply for apples and
pomegranates are aimed at compensating the farmer for both
harvesting and transportation costs. Thus, the farmer also receives
additional income after delivering the product to the processing
enterprise.
Crop subsidies, on the one hand, create additional sales
opportunities for farmers, and on the other hand, strengthen the
raw material supply of processing enterprises.
According to our calculations regarding cold storage facilities,
Azerbaijan needs approximately 900,000 tons - 1 million tons of
cold storage capacity. Currently, approximately 400,000 tons of
this have been created in previous years due to state support.
According to the State Program, it is planned to create an
additional 100,000 tons of storage capacity by 2030. It is expected
that at a later stage, there will be a need to further increase
investments in this direction.
The same situation applies to grain silos. Currently, the
country needs approximately 2.5 million tons of grain storage
capacity.
In general, world experience shows that countries are making
serious investments in expanding storage infrastructure. For
example, Türkiye has increased its grain storage capacity from 9
million tons to 12 million tons in the last five years and plans to
increase this figure to 20 million tons by 2030,” he also said.
Speaking about the issue of export subsidies, the minister noted
that a phased approach is envisaged in this direction.
“First of all, it’s planned to bring products into line with
international certificates and promote certification.
Unfortunately, currently our local products are mainly dependent on
one or two markets. In order to reduce this dependence and enter
new markets, products must meet international standards.
After completion of this stage, additional export promotion
mechanisms can also be considered.
We believe that product subsidies will also play a certain
stabilizing role in preventing price fluctuations. The introduction
of milk subsidies this year will also serve to form price stability
between farmers and processing enterprises.
However, fully administrative price regulation is not in line
with the principles of a market economy. Currently, the closest
mechanism to price regulation in Azerbaijan is applied in the
cotton sector, and here the state uses certain incentive tools to
support farmers.
In addition, various mechanisms existing in international
practice to mitigate price fluctuations are currently being
studied.
Proposals were also made regarding giving preference to local
products in state procurement and the supply system. As the
Ministry of Agriculture, we support this approach. We believe that
this step will have a positive impact on the development of local
production and the expansion of market opportunities for
farmers.
Finally, the issue of the development of higher education
institutions and personnel training was also touched upon. At the
same time, it is planned to expand dual diploma programs. In this
direction, cooperation is being expanded between the University of
Oklahoma, Turkish universities and Azerbaijani higher education
institutions. This will make a significant contribution to
personnel training in the agricultural sector in accordance with
international standards.
Serious work is being carried out by the Ministry of Science and
Education across the country to expand vocational education
institutions, which will also yield positive results. The Agrarian
College under the Agrarian University operating under the Ministry
of Agriculture has already started its activities, and we believe
that this structure will play an important role in personnel
training in the agricultural sector.
At the same time, there are programs implemented within the
framework of cooperation between ADA University and the University
of Bologna.
Educational programs in agricultural specialties have already
been launched within the framework of the Azerbaijan-Italy
University.
In general, the need for personnel in the agricultural sector is
expected to increase. There is a serious need for specialists
specializing in animal husbandry in particular. Unfortunately, some
of the existing specialists belong to the older age group and the
number of middle-aged personnel is relatively small.
Although there has been an increase in interest in agricultural
education in recent years, continuous educational work should be
carried out to increase the attractiveness of this field, correctly
explain its potential and convey its prospects to society.
I believe that you also pay attention to this issue during
meetings with the population in the regions. One of the questions
that I often ask farmers and during citizen receptions is: "Are
your children interested in agricultural education?"
If a farmer's child is not interested in agricultural education,
this is a serious signal for me. In this regard, with your support,
we should be more active in increasing interest in agricultural
education in the regions, directing young people to this field, and
strengthening awareness-raising activities,” the minister
concluded.
