Agricultural products processing companies should be set up in rural communities: official
08.10.2010,
20:39
A senior official of the Armenian agriculture ministry said today agricultural goods processing enterprises should be built in rural communities or in their close vicinity to free farmers from the burden of taking their products to canneries located mainl
YEREVAN, October 8, /ARKA/. A senior official of the Armenian agriculture ministry said today agricultural goods processing enterprises should be built in rural communities or in their close vicinity to free farmers from the burden of taking their products to canneries located mainly in urban communities.
Speaking at a news conference, Valery Arzoyan, head of a department in charge of rural development and food safety, said over 60% of canneries are in or near Yerevan. He went on saying that the government should develop a policy that will make building such enterprises in rural communities attractive. That, he said, will also improve the quality of life in villages.
‘Development of rural communities, especially in remote frontier and alpine areas is a priority of the government’s economic policy,’ he said adding that development of infrastructure in regions will help narrow the gap between rural and urban communities and improve living conditions both in towns and villages. He said small and medium companies are a major mechanism that should be applied to boost rural communities by creating new jobs.
He said Armenia is one of few countries which has a small and medium entrepreneurship development center funded by the government, but added that this is not enough. He then spoke about the delivery of nearly 1,000 metric tons of high-quality grain seeds from Russia to implement a government plan to more than double domestic production of wheat in the next few years. To that end the government allocated earlier this a total of 558 million drams ($1.5 million). According to government data, Armenia consumes an estimated 650,000 tons of wheat each year and less than one-third of the crop is grown domestically. Under the government program, recipients of these seeds will pay for them in kind after collecting their harvest. -0-
Speaking at a news conference, Valery Arzoyan, head of a department in charge of rural development and food safety, said over 60% of canneries are in or near Yerevan. He went on saying that the government should develop a policy that will make building such enterprises in rural communities attractive. That, he said, will also improve the quality of life in villages.
‘Development of rural communities, especially in remote frontier and alpine areas is a priority of the government’s economic policy,’ he said adding that development of infrastructure in regions will help narrow the gap between rural and urban communities and improve living conditions both in towns and villages. He said small and medium companies are a major mechanism that should be applied to boost rural communities by creating new jobs.
He said Armenia is one of few countries which has a small and medium entrepreneurship development center funded by the government, but added that this is not enough. He then spoke about the delivery of nearly 1,000 metric tons of high-quality grain seeds from Russia to implement a government plan to more than double domestic production of wheat in the next few years. To that end the government allocated earlier this a total of 558 million drams ($1.5 million). According to government data, Armenia consumes an estimated 650,000 tons of wheat each year and less than one-third of the crop is grown domestically. Under the government program, recipients of these seeds will pay for them in kind after collecting their harvest. -0-
