Ilham Aliyev: Azerbaijan satisfies only 55 percent of its wheat needs

Azerbaijan satisfies only 55 percent of its wheat needs, and unfortunately, this ratio is not increasing, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said today at a meeting dedicated to agricultural issues, Report informs.

"Thus, our self-sufficiency ratio regarding production and some figures will be announced. Wheat production. We satisfy only 55 percent of our wheat needs, and unfortunately, this ratio is not increasing. We are just treading water. For many years, wheat production in our country has remained at this level, despite a very significant impetus having been provided and many agroparks established. I must also state that the creation of agroparks has played a very large role in the development of agriculture. Despite this, our wheat production and its self-sufficiency ratio have not increased. Domestic production stands at 1,573,000 tons, while imports are at 1,267,000 tons. Look, we must reduce these imports. Naturally, taking into account our geography, our arable lands, and the necessity of cultivating other agricultural products, we should not set a goal to satisfy 100 percent of our food wheat needs ourselves. However, in any case, 55 percent is an unacceptable figure, and it must absolutely increase," President Ilham Aliyev said.

"The situation for other cereals is fundamentally positive; we are 95 percent self-sufficient, and imports are very negligible. Legumes. Domestic production is 23,000 tons, and imports are 15,000 tons. In other words, our self-sufficiency index is 63 percent. Potatoes. We are 91 percent self-sufficient and import 160,000 tons. However, I must also point out that we also export 71,000 tons. Therefore, the deficit here is not that large. Opportunities also exist to increase potato production, and we must completely eliminate imports, fully satisfy our own needs, and at the same time, export in larger volumes," the president added.

"Vegetables, melons and gourds, fruits, and berries. The situation here is positive. We are 107 percent self-sufficient in vegetables and export 214,000 tons. Domestic production stands at 1,770,000 tons. The production of melons and gourds is 460,000 tons, with almost no imports. Exports are at 18,000 tons, which is 104 percent. Fruits and berries. We have a 140 percent self-sufficiency level, with a production of 1,400,000 tons. Naturally, there are imports as well because there are various fruits that are imported and do not grow here. But exports are also quite substantial, reaching approximately 600,000 tons. I noted that we adopted a State Program on hazelnut cultivation. Following that, hazelnut orchards expanded rapidly. Today, we produce 84,000 tons of nuts and export 30,000 tons. That is to say, we rank 3rd or 4th globally in this area. Grape production. Our self-sufficiency ratio is 92 percent, with a production of 211,000 tons, imports at 28,000 tons, and exports totaling 10,000 tons as well."