Georgian Mandarin Harvest Booming

Mandarins can be seen on almost every street corner in Tbilisi at this time of year- most often with a female representative of the family that grew them sitting nearby ready to sell to you.

Upping the scale and we can talk about the regular exports of mandarins to Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The Government has allocated 2 million GEL to support the export of Georgian mandarins abroad which has been used to add extra transport vehicles for speedier delivery and additional storage facilities.

What’s more, according to Georgia’s Minister of Agriculture Otar Danelia, Georgia and Russia have reached an agreement whereby Georgian citrus fruit will be exported to Russia “without obstacle.”

Georgia’s citrus harvest lasts from November to January. After last year’s poor citrus harvest, Georgia is this year experiencing a bountiful, high quality crop and the 2015-2016 harvest is expected to bear over 100,000 tonnes of citrus fruit.

Georgia’s Agriculture Minister recently travelled to Adjara to visit the GM Group citrus processing plant. This year GM Group expect to receive 15,000 tonnes of mandarins with which they intend to satisfy local demand for juice as well as to export fruit juice to Holland, Israel, and Japan.

Katie Ruth Davies