Agriculture Ministry plans revival for Georgian tea industry
By M. Alkhazashvili
(Translated by Diana Dundua)
(Translated by Diana Dundua)
Tuesday, March 11
Agriculture Ministry officials are confident that Georgia’s tea business, despite years of decline in production, can be revived.
Tea production was serious business for Georgia in the days of the Soviet Union. In the 1980s, with an annual production of 500 000 tons, Georgia was the 4th or 5th largest tea producing nation in the world, and tea accounted for around 18 percent of the agricultural sector.
The collapse of the Soviet Union saw the industry take a downturn, as neglected processing plants became dilapidated, the war in Abkhazia decreased the total coverage of plantations, and output shrank—a 2005 tea market survey conducted by the Indian embassy in Yerevan put total output in 2001 at 5800 tons, while some estimates put current production at just 2000 tons.
“[Georgia can] produce high quality and competitive tea with the plantations that remain in good condition. Modern equipment and several efficient processing factories are needed, and then high quality Georgian tea can be exported,” the newspaper 24 Saati quoted first deputy Agriculture Minister Bakur Kvezereli as saying. Agriculture Ministry officials are confident that Georgia’s tea business, despite years of decline in production, can be revived.
Tea production was serious business for Georgia in the days of the Soviet Union. In the 1980s, with an annual production of 500 000 tons, Georgia was the 4th or 5th largest tea producing nation in the world, and tea accounted for around 18 percent of the agricultural sector.
The collapse of the Soviet Union saw the industry take a downturn, as neglected processing plants became dilapidated, the war in Abkhazia decreased the total coverage of plantations, and output shrank—a 2005 tea market survey conducted by the Indian embassy in Yerevan put total output in 2001 at 5800 tons, while some estimates put current production at just 2000 tons.
“[Georgia can] produce high quality and competitive tea with the plantations that remain in good condition. Modern equipment and several efficient processing factories are needed, and then high quality Georgian tea can be exported,” the newspaper 24 Saati quoted first deputy Agriculture Minister Bakur Kvezereli as saying.
Tea production was serious business for Georgia in the days of the Soviet Union. In the 1980s, with an annual production of 500 000 tons, Georgia was the 4th or 5th largest tea producing nation in the world, and tea accounted for around 18 percent of the agricultural sector.
The collapse of the Soviet Union saw the industry take a downturn, as neglected processing plants became dilapidated, the war in Abkhazia decreased the total coverage of plantations, and output shrank—a 2005 tea market survey conducted by the Indian embassy in Yerevan put total output in 2001 at 5800 tons, while some estimates put current production at just 2000 tons.
“[Georgia can] produce high quality and competitive tea with the plantations that remain in good condition. Modern equipment and several efficient processing factories are needed, and then high quality Georgian tea can be exported,” the newspaper 24 Saati quoted first deputy Agriculture Minister Bakur Kvezereli as saying. Agriculture Ministry officials are confident that Georgia’s tea business, despite years of decline in production, can be revived.
Tea production was serious business for Georgia in the days of the Soviet Union. In the 1980s, with an annual production of 500 000 tons, Georgia was the 4th or 5th largest tea producing nation in the world, and tea accounted for around 18 percent of the agricultural sector.
The collapse of the Soviet Union saw the industry take a downturn, as neglected processing plants became dilapidated, the war in Abkhazia decreased the total coverage of plantations, and output shrank—a 2005 tea market survey conducted by the Indian embassy in Yerevan put total output in 2001 at 5800 tons, while some estimates put current production at just 2000 tons.
“[Georgia can] produce high quality and competitive tea with the plantations that remain in good condition. Modern equipment and several efficient processing factories are needed, and then high quality Georgian tea can be exported,” the newspaper 24 Saati quoted first deputy Agriculture Minister Bakur Kvezereli as saying.