According to available data from the ministry of agriculture (MoA), by 1 May, 2013, 400,000 hectares have been cultivated this year in Georgia, which means a 100% increase compared to last year and the highest figure, by far, since 2005. In fact, this is the highest yearly increase in cultivated area Georgia recorded during the last decades.
In total, Georgia has around 800,000 hectares of agricultural land (i.e. land suitable for cultivation).
Table: Georgian agricultural land in cultivation (hectares), 1990-2013
Source: MoA
No data by regions is currently available. In principle, one could expect an even increase across the country, given that the main driver of this is the MoA plowing + vouchers programme, which targets all districts in Georgia. In fact, there are certain factors that will create differences across regions. To name just a few:
- In the poorest regions (with the highest levels of non cultivated lands) the increase will certainly be higher (e.g. Kakheti) compared to areas where the proportion of cultivated lands in total agricultural lands was already higher than average.
- In areas with a high proportion of perennial crops (e.g. Gori district and its orchards) the proportion will be lower because, of course, it is the non-perennial crops that are being expanded.
- The very low populated areas (e.g. Racha) the increases will be small, because there is simply no manpower to cope with additional cultivated lands, regardless of the government’s efforts.
BACKGROUND
By the 80's Georgia reached is historical maximum of 700,000 cultivated hectares. Then, the period 1990 to 1995 saw a total collapse of the sector, due to the conflict situation that the country was living through at the time and the effects of the collapse of the Soviet Union. 250,000 hectares of land, which have been traditionally cultivated, were abandoned.
In the period 1995 to 2004 the sector started a very slow but sustained recovery, and sown area augmented by 150,000 hectares.
The period 2004 to 2012 saw a second collapse of agriculture. This time it was not caused by wars or economic crises but by a deliberate policy to neglected the primary production. The country lost almost 400,000 hectares of cultivated lands , i.e. 2/3 of the total area cultivated before that period.