Difficult situation in Georgia's grain-growing industry

According to Nikoloz Beniaidze, head of the Grain Producers Association, a very difficult situation has developed in Georgian grain growing, which creates a danger that farmers will not be able to repay their loans, become bankrupt en masse, and will be forced to stop working. “At the moment, only 10% of last year's wheat has been sold, 90% has not yet been sold, and a new crop is added to this, which has already been harvested by 20-30%. But there are problems with purchase prices - wheat is not sold even at cost. The prime minister's order, which was supposed to give an advantage to local producers, is either not being implemented at all, or is being partially implemented,” he said. According to him, mills do not buy local grain, as they consider it too expensive, but for producers, even this price - 40-45 tetri per kilogram - is too low, since costs are growing, and the cost of grain is at least 80 tetri, that is, nearly double the purchase price. According to Nikoloz ...