Despite much hail this year, it still has been a year favorable for agriculture, field specialists say, and their words are proved by abundant harvest in the markets and lower prices compared to last year.

At the government meeting on Thursday Minister of Agriculture Sergo Karapetyan said that through January-April of this year growth in the field of agriculture made 4.8 percent and the minister hopes that by the yearend dynamic growth will be registered.

“As a result of operating new greenhouses there are no vegetables imported from other countries. At the same time, we will have no problems with harvest purchasing, all organizations are ready to buy agricultural products and process them. The government in its turn is ready to provide certain necessary support for processors,” the minister said, adding that at the beginning of the year 280 tons of cherry, two thousand tons of cucumber and 270 tons of tomato was exported already, and the export continues, and each day 300-500 tons of fruit-vegetables are exported from the country.

The minister said that reservoirs are quite full as well.

As for the results of hail, the minister said that mostly perennial trees were damaged - nearly 1,400 hectares, it means fruit trees, mostly apricot trees, as well as vineyards, around 350 hectares, but it did not have significant influence on harvest.

To deter the main “enemy” of agriculture, the government discussed also the question of anti-hail stations. At the government meeting last week Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan ordered the Minister of Territorial Administration and Emergency Situations, Armen Yeritsyan, to introduce the anti-hail system existing in Armenia; in response to this Yeritsyan said on Thursday that 412 anti-hail stations have been installed in the territory of Armenia, and 72 – in Nagorno-Karabakh, however overall 5,165 are needed, and 1,021 are needed as a priority.

This week the prime minister ordered that the financial means needed for installing 1,021 anti-hail stations be estimated.

Minister Yeritsyan said that they need radio-locating stations for early cloud location; during Soviet Armenia there were 10, and now there are only 1-2 of them.

Meanwhile, Minister of Agriculture Sergo Karapetyan said that although each year the volumes of installing anti-hail stations in Armenia increases, pointing out that last year in particular 80 anti-hail stations were installed and this year – already 8, still the minister said that in order to protect fruit trees and gardens from hail in Armenia we need a network style, thus the protection will be 100 percent.

“The efficiency of anti-hail stations is 60-75 percent, but this method does not work in the whole world any longer, nets are used as means of protection from hail. The process has started in our country. In several areas, specifically in Ararat valley, we installed such technology. I want to say that our aim is to implement networking industry in our country which has been initiated already. I am absolutely sure that by the beginning of the next year we will have the product of that network in our country,” Karapetyan said.

Hrach Berberyan, president of the Agrarian-Rural Union of Armenia NGO, agrees with the minister; he told ArmeniaNow that anti-hail station are useless for Armenia today and it is pointless adding them.

“Still ten years ago when they brought the first anti-hail stations from Argentina, I was in that commission and I was the only person who was against that equipment and I said that they are not effective, we all know that those were removed in the whole world. It’s just funny; I can mention only the amount of damage in the province of Armavir this year, and there are 18 anti-hail stations, but it was of no use,” Berberyan said, adding that in case of anti-hail networks there will be no mention of hail anymore, and besides protecting from hail they provide two-three degrees of difference in the temperature in the event of frosts.

Berberyan said that anti-hail nets are strong synthetic common nets made of fiber, they are fixed on gardens and they take the hail hit on them. According to Berberyan, if they are produced in Armenia it will not cost that expensive and for one hectare, depending on the territory, it will cost $1,500-2,500.

Source - www.armenianow.com