Gov't Boasts a Record Harvest in 2018
The 2018 grape harvest in Georgia has broken national records with over 230,000 tons of grapes processed, and the estimated income of 22,000 grape growers who participated in this year’s harvest exceeding 300 million GEL. The information was announced on October 19 by Levan Davitashvili, Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia. This year’s harvest involved approximately 280 private companies, ranging from large commercial wineries to small family-run productions.
“This quantity of harvested grapes has not been processed in Georgia since independence [from the Soviet Union in 1991]. Georgian wine exports are also at a record high. We anticipate an export volume of 100 million bottles of Georgian wine in 2018,” said Davitashvili.
From 2013-2018 in Kakheti and Racha-Lechkhumi, Georgia’s primary grape-growing regions, grape growers took in a collective income of 950 million GEL during the harvest periods. “Thanks to positive growth in this field, the 2018 grape harvest was not subsidized,” explained Davitashvili. For the past 10 years, grape growing has been subsidized in Georgia.
In a June visit to the Botanical Garden of Zugdidi, in the Samegrelo region of central Georgia, Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze noted that while, overall, Georgia’s agricultural sector has consistently low growth or declines, one crop does consistently well – wine grapes. In 2017, $170 million worth of wine was exported from Georgia, surpassing hazelnuts as Georgia’s most valuable agricultural export. As The Financial reports, “2017 was the year when the government started [moving away] from direct subsidies for grape prices; only 19 million GEL [$7.7 mln] was expended, compared to 36 million [$14.6 mln] in 2016.” In 2017, growing Rkatsiteli, Saperavi and Kakhuri Mtsvane grapes was subsidized. To encourage the sector’s independent growth and sustainability, no subsidy was offered to grape growers in 2018. In July, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture explained the decision by predicting that the “2018 harvest will be successful and organized and grape growers will not face problems regarding grape sales.”
Davitashvili highlighted a few particularly significant developments in the grape growing and winemaking sectors over the past six years, noting that wine exports are up, export markets are diversifying, and new wine companies and enterprises are being established. In 2012, there were 50 winemaking enterprises of all sizes officially registered in Georgia, while today there are more than 800.
“This is the completion of a certain phase in Georgian winemaking. From 2019, we will implement a new five-year strategy, and we have fulfilled all the preconditions required to attain our goals,” Davitashvili promised.
The harvest began in early September and was supported by the National Wine Agency, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture, the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Agricultural Projects Management Agency, and regional governments in the Kakheti and Racha-Lechkhumi – Kvemo Svaneti regions, who annually establish coordination centers to help farmers process their grapes. The coordination centers also ensure accountability and traceability.
“The Government of Georgia is keeping its promise not to subsidize the grape harvest this year. Viticulture has become one of the most successful and developed sectors in the country as a result of the effective policy implemented by Georgian government in recent years, evidenced in increased exports and growing number of wine producing companies, the success of Georgian wine in exhibitions and competitions held in different countries around the world,” said Levan Davitashvili at the end of the government meeting in July.
The promotion of the viticulture and wine industries remains one of the main priorities of the Georgian government.
By Samantha Guthrie
Image source: Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia