According to the Government of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, in 2024, 11,288 tons of citrus worth 3,386,471 GEL were processed, of which the state subsidy amounted to 2,822,059 GEL. Farmers say that the subsidy for substandard citrus increases from year to year. It is also worth noting that this year, 2,163 tons of tangerines worth 1.3 million were exported from Georgia that is 81.4% less in amount and 81.7% less in volume compared to last year.
In a conversation with Cmmersant, Vazha Mkurnalidze, director of Agroinvest Service, says that the reason for the low price and, consequently, a decline in exports is the delay in sales. Apart from sales problems, this year's heavy rainfall has hit citrus farming - 80% of the orchards require heavy pruning.
"The citrus orchards have definitely suffered." There was so much rainfall that the farmer would not have been able to cope with it on his own. 80% of the mandarin trees need severe pruning, and even one year is not enough: the plants will need 2-3 years to return to their original state. It is difficult to determine the damage at this stage, but there is still snow in the highlands, and it is expected that heavy rainfall this year will reduce the yield by at least 30-40%. “The fruit-bearing branches of the plant are broken, this will not spoil the quality of the harvest, although in quantitative terms the harvest will obviously decrease,” notes Vazha Mkurnalidze.
