Wednesday, 23 March 2011
Barley seeds to go to poor communities
Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan called a consultative meeting to discuss the 2011 barley crop development program. In attendance were Vice Prime Minister, Minister of Territorial Development Armen Gevorgyan and marz governors.
According to Tigran Sargsyan, 2000 tons of seeds will be imported not only to develop domestic seed production, but also to tackle a number of other key tasks.
“It has been repeatedly stated during the previous discussions that cultivated areas are shrinking in Armenia. This State-supported program is meant to encourage our farmers to cultivate new areas,” the head of government said by stressing that the assistance should first of all go to poor communities where we have needy households. Mindful of this target group, the Prime Minister emphasized that the principle of fairness should not be impaired.
“Armenia’s market demand for barley seeds is 11 thousand tons. In the meantime, only 2000 tons is imported under the program, which only makes 20% of the overall demand. Nevertheless, we expect to achieve growth in agriculture and increased coverage of cultivated areas,” the Prime Minister noticed.
Note that the Ministry of Territorial Development is going submit today to the Prime Minister the list of most vulnerable 200 communities of Armenia. The list will be sent out to marz governors as well.
In conclusion, Tigran Sargsyan reminded that the program will be kept under his personal and immediate control.
