Greater yields for the hazel nut harvest

This year Georgia has harvested more hazel nuts than in previous years, particularly in the regions of Guria and Samegrelo as well as in Russian-occupied Abkhazia. Meanwhile harvests in Turkey are not as good as usual, therefore prices have increased. Unfortunately the profits don't end up in farmers' pockets but price differences are absorbed by exporters, middle-men and so on, while producers are seeing little of the increased profits.. Hazel nuts are mainly exported into European countries and they make up almost one quarter of food product exports from Georgia. Businessmen involved in this sector cannot hide their satisfaction. The harvest will probably reach 35,000 tonnes this year and prices range from GEL 2.25 up to 2.80 per kilo for the farmers. Analysts suggest that in addition to exporting the crop it would be more profitable to build local processing factories and export home-made products abroad.