The 4th Annual Conference of the Nut Producers Association was held

The 4th Annual Conference of the Georgian Nut Producers Association was held in Zugdidi, where they discussed working results of 2019 and the plans to be implemented this year.

At the meeting with  the members of Association attended by the State Representative of Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti Alexander Motserelia, Deputy Minister of Environment and Agriculture Giorgi Khanishvili, Mayor of Zugdidi Municipality Giorgi Shengelia and other officials.

The audience attending the conference received up-to-date information on topical nut matters, such as pest control, disease control, soil fertility, crop insurance, preferential financial products and more.

The Association was founded on 2013 and currently counts more than 8200 members, out of which 1270 is a member of the working groups. The main goal of the Association is to improve the knowledge of farmers in hazelnut orchard management, help them increase their production and improve the quality of hazelnuts. The members of the GHGA apply the method of Group Work which allows them to share their experience and coordinate joint actions to improve hazelnut production. Each farmer group has one group-leader and works under the supervision of an expert agronomist who visits them every month, provides with technical advices and observes the changes in their orchards. GHGA members benefit from different services with lower price, such as: soil investigations, machinery for orchard management, drying and storage of hazelnuts; GHGA also facilitates the access to micro credits in order to purchase fertilizers and other inputs. 

GHGA in cooperation with Ferrero/AgriGeorgia observes and monitors BMSB in Georgia . In the frameworks of the project pheromone traps were installed in 100 locations in hazelnut producing regions of Georgia.

The program will continue through 2020, with plans to increase the association's membership to 30,000 farmers and deliver an additional 1,500 units.

The conference with heads of various sectoral agencies attended by representatives of NGOs and donor organizations, foreign visitors, nut producers, financial institutions, insurance companies and scientists working in the nut sector. After the conference, were held the Nut Producers Executive Committee elections.