The current year was a hard one for the Armenian agriculture, chairman of the Agrarian Peasant Union said.

“According to official statistical data, the vegetable harvest was 822 thousand tons in 2009. This year, the figure of 650 thousand tons will be announced. However, the real amount is 550 thousand tons,” Hrachya Berberyan told journalists on November 26.

Besides, he noted that autumn sowing areas decreased by 8-10 ha, as the farmers did not have enough means to buy seeds.

“Another problem is rodents , which have developed immunity against the used pesticide. I have warned the Ministry of Agriculture that pesticide should be changed every year, but they don’t understand a thing about it,” Berberyan said.

The reason behind the agricultural slump is incorrect staff policy and ineffective use of funds allocated by the government, according to him.