Georgian prime minister Irakli Garibashvili on Monday said his government had plans to allocate about GEL 20 million to subsidize the costs necessary for maintenance and cultivation of hazelnuts in a bid to promote domestic production.
Coming at the weekly government meeting, the announcement was made amid damages caused by Asian stink-bugs to farmers and a decreasing price trend on the product internationally.
Garibashvili said the appearance of the pests in the country in 2017 had “significantly reduced” domestic production of hazelnuts while also hitting the quality of the product.
"This year’s harvest was not very good either, with the quality of hazelnuts relatively poor. Due to the current economic crisis initially caused by the coronavirus pandemic, which was followed by the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the price for the product is also decreasing”, said the prime minister.
Last August, the price per kg hazelnut was in the range of GEL 6 - 7.5, while this year it ranged from GEL 3 to GEL 4.5 per kg.
