Why is it unprofitable to grow grain in Armenia?

As of the end of July 2010, 34 hail-suppression stations were set in Armenia.

Grain cultivation and harvesting comes to around AMD 182,000 per ha in Armenia. A farmer from Yeghvard town (Kotayk region of Armenia) told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter that plowing of 1ha costs AMD 25, 000, grain sowing – AMD 8,000, land leveling – AMD 10,000, cultivation – AMD 12,000. Meanwhile, farmers have to pay AMD 20,000 for irrigation, while it is necessary to water grain three times a year.
October 4, 2010

PanARMENIAN.Net - Besides, 6 bags of mineral fertilizers (AMD 7,000 per bag) are required for 1ha of grain crops. Finally, grain harvesting comes to AMD 25,000.

As a result of hails, the aforementioned farmer managed to harvest only 1.4t of wheat from 1ha in Yeghvard, while he could purchase a similar volume of grain at the same cost without additional efforts, paying AMD 130-140/1kg.

It should be noted that a significant part of harvest suffers from hail. The Armenian Ministry of Agriculture has finally started tackling this problem. According to data as of the end of July 2010, 34 hail-suppression stations were set in Armenia. However, 250 hail-suppression stations should be set on Armenia’s territory for the complex struggle against hail, what will take from 1 to 2 years.

It is not strange that cultivation areas are reduced in Armenia from year to year, while the country’s agriculture will not develop, unless farmers are protected from loss of their harvest.

Hripsime Hayrapetyan / PanARMENIAN News
 Most popular in the section
Cost-effectiveness or unemployment growth
Armenia’s “useless” manpower
Year of crises
Small and medium sized businesses weigh in on consequences of war
Investments in Armenia’s greenhouses bear fruit
New markets opening for home-grown products
 At focus
Armenia dismisses Turkey’s demand to shut down nuclear plant as “inappropriate”

Armenia dismisses Turkey’s demand to shut down nuclear plant as “inappropriate” Yerevan has dismissed Turkey’s demand to shut down the Armenian nuclear power plant as “inappropriate”.

 More articles in this section
4 rules for business success An ultimate guide
Reduction of personnel and tax collection growth State Revenue Committee changes its policy
Countries and goods that boosted Armenian export in 2016 Record figures
Home
Overview: Economy
More articles in section
Economy
 Other articles
 Latest news
Viva sees growing demand for cloud services In recent years, medical institutions are starting to make use of Viva’s cloud services
Turkey replacing term "Central Asia" with "Turkestan" in textbooks The Turkish Ministry of Education is replacing the term "Central Asia" with "Turkestan" in textbooks.
Armenian, German presidents meet in Berlin Armenian and German Presidents Vahagn Khachaturyan and Frank-Walter Steinmeier met in Berlin.
Armenia assumes presidency of Mediterranean Network of Regulatory Authorities The Commission on Television and Radio of Armenia said it expects productive cooperation in various formats.
---