Project on non-standard apples in Gori: New opportunities for farmers

In the city of Gori, located in the Shida Kartli region, the Coordination Headquarters for the organization of the purchase of non-standard apples has begun its work. This step was taken under the leadership of the head of the Ministry of Agriculture, Otar Shamugia, who also held the first working meeting, as the press service of the department reported.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, this year it is planned to harvest 120 thousand tons of apples, of which 50 thousand tons will be non-standard. Otar Shamugia stressed the importance of this initiative: "We have been supporting farmers in various fields for several years, including apple harvesting and processing. This year, as in the previous one, the government will allocate subsidies for processing non-standard apples that are difficult to sell on the market."

Last year, about 70 thousand non-standard apples were processed under the subsidy program, which brought farmers an income of 20 million lari, equivalent to 7.6 million US dollars.

In 2023, the state will continue the program of stimulating the sale of non-standard apples. A subsidy of 0.1 lari per kilogram will be provided to fruit processing enterprises that will purchase one kilogram of non-standard apples from farmers for at least 0.24 lari by December 15, 2023. Up to 20 enterprises will be included in the program.

In order to be involved in the project, fruit processing enterprises must register electronically at the Coordination Headquarters. It is important to note that the meeting at the Coordination Headquarters was attended by Deputy Governor of Shida Kartli Simon Guledani, Mayor of Gori Vladimir Khinchegashvili, representatives of apple processing enterprises and local youth who are actively involved in this initiative. This year, more than 40 young people of the local community took part in the work of the Coordination Headquarters.