Aghjabadi, June 3, AZERTAC

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has visited a farm in Hindarkh settlement of Agjabadi district to attend a ceremony to start grain harvesting on a farmland.

Minister of Agriculture Inam Karimov said: Mr President, with your blessing, grain harvesting already begins today. One million hectares of grain fields will be harvested across the country, of which about 370,000 hectares are occupied by barley fields.

President Ilham Aliyev: Is barley being picked?

Inam Karimov: Yes. In a few days, the harvesting of wheat will also begin. All equipment is fully ready for harvesting.

President Ilham Aliyev: What is the expected yield?

Inam Karimov: Mr President, last year the yield was about 32 quintals per hectare, this year it is impossible to say for sure because of the arid weather this year.

President Ilham Aliyev: There was a drought both this and last year. But last year we managed to provide a record level of yields. In Azerbaijan, yields had never reached 32 quintals per hectare. At the same time, in large farms it reached almost 50 quintals. Is re-sowing work in progress? I said that the Cabinet of Ministers had allocated funds.

Head of the Agjabadi District Executive Authority Rafil Huseynov: Yes, Mr President, you have given instructions that corn will be sown.

President Ilham Aliyev: The main problem there is water. You must bring it there.

Rafil Huseynov: Mr President, in places where there is water we plan to do re-sowing on 2,000 hectares this year.

President Ilham Aliyev: You have 2,000 hectares and there are about 100,000 hectares in the country. This is the goal and we will see how it turns out.

Rafil Huseynov: As for water, the main thing is that irrigation should not coincide with the sowing of cotton. This year, grain was planted on about 30,000 hectares in Aghjabadi, of which about 8,000 hectares are barley and 22,000 hectares are wheat.

President Ilham Aliyev: What was the yield in Agjabadi last year?

Rafil Huseynov: Last year it was 35 quintals. Starting this year, we plan to return to crop rotation. If we do not return to crop rotation, we will not be able to provide yields. We agreed to rotate the planting of clover on the same site in our district, because we cannot stop the development of cattle breeding, and cotton. Because if we sow cotton on clover fields, we can get very good crops. We plan to increase cotton to 20 percent due to crop rotation on cotton, grain and clover fields.

President Ilham Aliyev: Yield?

Rafil Huseynov: Both the total volume of cotton harvested and the yield will increase. There is good cotton this year.

President Ilham Aliyev: Your productivity was good last year as well.

Rafil Huseynov: This year it is better than last year.

President Ilham Aliyev: Are the sown areas the same?

Rafil Huseynov: The same, but next year we plan to increase cotton crops by 25 percent because our grain and clover fields cover 50,000 hectares today, which give us only 500 jobs. But we plant cotton on 10,000 hectares and this is 15,000 jobs.

President Ilham Aliyev: Of course, this is a labor-intensive sector. At the same time, the salaries are also good.

Rafil Huseynov: Yes, revenues are three times higher. Both net and total revenues are growing.

Inam Karimov: Mr President, farmers are already interested in growing cotton and making an income.

President Ilham Aliyev: We have revived interest in cotton. Last year, we increased productivity to 29 quintals per hectare. This is one of the highest indicators in the history of Azerbaijan. In Soviet times, the yield per hectare exceeded 30 quintals perhaps for only three to four years. It is possible to say that we have now approached 30 quintals. If this year’s yield is better, then, of course, farmers and workers will get more income.

Rafil Huseynov: Mr President, compared to last year, the density is higher now – we have about 100 percent of seedlings. Therefore, a very good result is expected in cotton this year.

President Ilham Aliyev: Also, due to re-sowing, our feed stock will expand. Have you calculated how much feed we will get from corn? How much will the dependence on imports decrease?

Inam Karimov: There will be about 1.2 million tons of green silage feed, 350,000 tons of corn.

President Ilham Aliyev: So little money will go abroad.

Inam Karimov: Yes, little indeed.

Rafil Huseynov: The creation of electronic accounting has helped a lot. We already know how to keep records. We have now started to keep records of households in the district – how many plots people have and what changes are taking place there.

President Ilham Aliyev: Farmers also know their work.

Inam Karimov: Mr President, with your blessing, we will begin harvesting.

President Ilham Aliyev: Can we start?

Inam Karimov: Yes, with your blessing.

President Ilham Aliyev: Get started!

Then the harvesting of grain on a farmland of farmer Nizami Huseynov began.