Armenian Minister of Agriculture Gerasim Alaverdyan said that the year of 2010 was rather unfavorable for Armenia’s agriculture.

14.5% decline was recorded in agriculture by the end of 11 months, Alaverdyan told a press conference on December 24 in Yerevan.

The decline is basically reasoned by poor weather conditions.

According to the Minister, considerable problems were recorded in crop production.

Cultivation areas reduced by 16,000ha in 2010 compared to 2009, totaling 283,000ha. Drop was recorded in potato production, making 490,000t in 2010 against 590,000t in 2009.

The volume of fruits production dropped by 3 times, totaling 125,000t in 2010 against 330,000t in 2009.

As for vegetables production, decline was recorded also here – 690,000t of vegetables were produced in 2010 against 800,000t in 2009, Alaverdyan noted.

He added that positive figures were recorded in grape production. Specifically, 218,000t of grapes were produced in 2010 against 207,000t in 2009.

134,000t of grapes at an average price of AMD 124.5 were purchased this year, while the total sum of purchase amounted to AMD 16.7bln, Alaverdyan said.