Azerbaijan Investing $1.4 Billion in Agricultural Parks

According to the Ministry of Economy of Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan has invested 2.4 billion manats ($ 1.4 billion) in the development of agricultural parks.

Both public and private sectors have invested in agricultural parks.

The Entrepreneurship Development Fund of the Ministry of Economy has allocated up to $ 700 million for the creation and development of 50 agricultural parks.

To improve agricultural equipment, 25 agricultural parks have a $ 19 million discount on imports of machinery, technological equipment and other facilities.

Along with the public sector, the private sector also contributes to the development of agroparks. For its part, the volume of investments made by the private sector amounted to $ 710 million.

According to the ministry, 51 agroparks and large farms are being established on 240,000 hectares in 32 regions. 35 of them specialize in grain production, 14 in animal husbandry, the rest in sorting-packaging, processing and logistics. According to the Ministry, 43 agro-parks have already been put into operation, while design works are underway in the rest.

Agroparks play an important role in increasing the level of employment. Currently, 4,750 permanent and more than 4,800 seasonal workers are employed in agricultural parks and more than 4,500 additional jobs are planned in the future, the report reads.

In 2020, 124.3 thousand tons of wheat, 64.6 thousand tons of barley, 121.6 thousand tons of corn, 90.4 thousand tons of sugar beet, 18.5 thousand tons of cotton, 5.9 thousand tons of soy, 27.4 thousand tons of milk and 3.3 thousand tons of meat were produced in agriculture.

In 2017-2020, 7,500 hectares of orchards were established in agricultural parks, of which 12,000 tons of apples, 393.5 tons of olives, 183 tons of almonds, 200.7 tons of pomegranate and 165.7 tons of grapes were produced.