Georgian walnut growers expect to harvest about 50 thousand tons of hazelnuts in 2024

According to forecasts by Merab Chitanava, head of the Georgian Hazelnut Producers Association (GHGA), this year the hazelnut harvest in Georgia could reach 50,000 tons. According to him, the basis for such a forecast is provided by the State Program to Support Nut Production, which farmers used in 2023 and will be able to use in 2024, Business Georgia reports. “The program budget is set at GEL 20 million and provides for subsidizing the cost of agrochemicals and pesticides necessary for the care and cultivation of hazelnuts. Farmers who own or actually own a walnut orchard with an area of no more than 3 hectares will receive 500 GEL per hectare from the state. However, there are still certain problems in the industry, and one of them is soil acidity,” notes Merab Chitanava. He also assessed the results of 2023 negatively - due to heavy rains, the harvest was small and the nuts were of poor quality. “This situation was compensated by the fact that last year the price of 1 kilogram ...