Problems in Bio Production
The 2021-2027 agriculture development strategy does not mention bio production promotion issues at all, while the country has huge potential for its development, both domestically and on foreign markets, Mariam Jorjadze, Director of the Elkana Association of Biological Farming told BusinessPartner.
The Elkana Director says that bio production is one of the key competitive advantages for Georgia on the global market, and the authorities should prioritize this field. Despite this, the 2021-2027 Agriculture Development Strategy has no reference to bio production promotion, in practice. As for the public attitude to the issue, Elkana arranged a petition requesting that we make bio production one a priority. More than 1,200 citizens signed the petition for a week, and the document has been submitted to the Parliament.
The petition proves that our society has a positive attitude towards bio production, Jorjadze said.
“We held the petition for a short period to examine the public interest, and for a week we collected 1,200 signatures. This fact proves that Georgian citizens appreciate healthy and high-quality products; however, our officials do not demonstrate the necessary efforts. Our legislation is also invaluable, and people engaged in this sector do not provide the necessary support, either”,Jorjadze said.
The Elkana Director says that bio production development will bring serious benefits to the country, including in the tourism sector.
“We strive to become a country attractive to tourism, and we should know what we want – massive tourism or elite tourism, when everything is high class, including food products, if we do not want to host guests with frozen chicken from Brazil”, Jorjadze said.
Many farmers are interested in bio production, but agriculture development strategy says nothing about the promotion of this field. The authorities have even suspended the 100-million assistance program, and farmers are waiting in vain for a normal answer, Jorjadze said.
“Last year, the authorities seemed ready to launch a certain program to promoting bio production. The country should follow a certain strategy, and the Agriculture Ministry issued their first document, entitled Agriculture Development Strategy for 2021-2027. However, this document has only one word on bio production, and the whole document says nothing more about bio production and organic production. We received firm promises in 2018, entrepreneurs and suppliers held meetings and workshops were held, and they decided that such a program would be implemented. We have seen the program’s project, and only the ex0Prime Minister’s signature was required, and then everything was stopped and suspended.
Farmers come to us, who have attended those meetings, who have seen these promises on TV and they ask us: what has happened? Why was this program halted? The issue was about 100 million GEL. The Agriculture Ministry’s officials told us that the program was suspended because of a lack of money. However, the strategy was published with no reference to bio production, approaches in the sector or any other support. Therefore, we have decided to ask the public whether it is interested in developing this field.. All visions should be based on an appropriate analysis. For example, I have not seen a vision of how the agricultural field should develop, and where our priorities should be placed. Only one organization and several small projects work in bio production, and this field has developed at a very slow pace, while perspectives on both domestic and external markets are huge”, Jorjadze said.
Some Georgian farmers want to develop bio production, but they do not have they frequently do not have the option. Bio production is a competitive advantage for our country on the global market, and the authorities should prioritize this field. However, according to Jorjadze, the government has not included this field in the 2021-2027 agriculture development strategy, and it has suspended even a 100 million GEL support program. Elkana has already submitted a petition to the parliament for making bio production a priority field for the government. The petition was signed by 1,200 citizens for a week.
During discussions, Jorjadze pointed out that bio production development will assist Georgian winemaking in overcoming various problems, and it ensures the production of high-quality wines.
“The majority of certified bio farmers today are registered in winegrowing, because all of them took certificates to improve sales. We have a lot of bio winemakers, who sell their certified wines at expensive prices, because bio methods in winegrowing are one of the preconditions for making the best wines. Now, major companies also prefer to follow the principles of bio production, because this method ensures high quality of wines”, Jorjadze said.
According to Elkana’s Director, frequently, farmers want to launch bio production, but they don’t have the opportunity, and production of high-quality products is hindered.
“For example, in the nut production sector, where I started a business in 2018. The sector unites about 800 farmers. In practice, all of them wanted to apply bio standards, but there are small farms in Georgia and the program against marmorated stinkbugs has hampered the introduction of these standards. In most cases, we have problems with farmers’ techniques rather than stinkbugs. I mean, they should care for hazelnut as much as for vineyards, because hazlenut production has become industrialized, and it requires a lot of agricultural methods. Earlier farmers used to enter plantations once a year for picking harvest, and this practice should be changed, and so on.
A huge effort should be made in this field. Frequently, people have the will, but have no option to follow the principles of bio production, because amid the general program against the marmorated stinkbug, it is impossible to keep small farms in clean condition. In Europe and developed countries, there entirely different legislation. If a farmer decides to follow bio production, those countries ensure elementary protection guarantees. I do not mean costs in the millions of GEL. The problem is that in Georgia, there is no opportunity for bio production development, even if I have the required plans, because these are small plots, and all lands around my farm were treated against marmorated stinkbugs. We will never surprise the world with cheap products. We cannot be competitive in this respect. Our chance is high-quality products”, Mariam Jorjadze said.