Gov't to Allocate GEL 300 million, Assist about 200,000 Farmers
Prime Minister of Georgia Giorgi Gakharia pledges GEL 300 million assistance to about 200,000 farmers throughout the country.
He spoke about the programs supporting the agricultural sector during the pandemic at the presentation of the agriculture development plan today.
He said that the assistance will cover about 200,000 farmers and the total budget of it will be GEL 300 million.
The head of the government noted that farmers should apply to the subdivisions of the Ministry of Agriculture for assistance from May 20.
"Each farmer who has registered land will receive a subsidy of 200 GEL per hectare from the state. Approximately, this means that medium-sized farms and large farms, which, for example, own 10 hectares of land and cultivate it, will receive assistance from the state in the amount of 2,000 GEL”, he explained, adding that the assistance will also be proportionally distributed to farmers who own relatively less land area.
He added that as another form of assistance from the state, all farmers will receive 150 liters of diesel fuel per hectare, which will cost GEL 1 cheaper compared to the market price.
“In addition, all farmers will receive 150 liters of diesel fuel per hectare, which will cost GEL 1 cheaper compared to the market price. In general, the fuel price is critically significant for agricultural activities and we are working to address this problem not only during this crisis but also in the coming years," Gakharia noted.
According to the Anti-Crisis Plan, every farmer in Georgia (who number 42,000) will be fully exempt from irrigation fees. As the head of the government noted, farmers will have free water for irrigation in 2020.
As regards those farmers who need to buy machinery, the state will finance 50% of the expenses in the form of grants.
"Every farmer who needs to buy machinery or set up greenhouse enterprises or irrigation systems will receive financial assistance from the state in the form of grants covering 50 percent of the relevant expenses. Farmers will be able to apply to the relevant services of the Ministry of Agriculture from the 20th of May. This is very important as spring agricultural works are underway at the moment," the prime minister stated.
Furthermore, the government is working of the issue of systemic land registration within the framework of the Anti-Crisis Plan to support agriculture, which is being implemented by the Ministry of Justice. According to the government's plan, all plots of land in the country must be fully surveyed and registered over the next three years.
The farmers who have not registered their land for any reason and will manage to do so by the end of the year will also be able to take advantage of the concessions and assistance.
"All the assistance for farmers that is envisaged by the Anti-Crisis Plan on Agriculture is connected with registered land. In order for us to support the development of farming, every person who may not have registered their land for any reason but will be able to do so by the end of the year will be able to take advantage of these concessions and the assistance. This means that a certain part of this program will apply to a certain period of the coming year as well. We are providing assistance to the farmers and the village – this amounts to caring not only for the people living in rural areas but also for every single one of our citizens and the country's agricultural food product security. Additionally, I would like to call on every farmer to register, as soon as possible, all plots of land that they utilize and are able to register so that they can become the beneficiaries of all the programs that the state is implementing for them today," Gakharia stated.
The head of the government thanked the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia and Minister Levan Davitashvili for their interesting and hard work during the development of the Anti-Crisis Plan on Agriculture.
"Many thanks to Levan Davitashvili – this is good work and the figures are impressive. This is our aim and the aim of this program. Additionally, the next goal for the field of agriculture is the industrialization of the field – we need industrialized agriculture and, of course, the growth of productivity. These are the challenges that we have been fighting for years; we have achieved some success, which is very important – for instance, the balance of the agricultural food product deficit in the country, which used to amount to 900 million USD, and has been reduced to 350 million USD today. We are talking about the difference between the import and export of agricultural products in the country. This is a challenge that we must address; this is the plan that was developed by the Ministry of Agriculture and the government. The only thing that we must urge our citizens to do is to buy Georgian products, which are becoming of higher and higher quality, and we must do everything to ensure that our agricultural products are competitive on international markets once our agricultural food product security needs have been met. We can do this, and we must do this," Giorgi Gakharia stated.
"During the crisis, we've seen how important food safety and domestic production of agricultural products is for the state. Strong village directly means a strong state," the PM emphasized.
By Ana Dumbadze