Having been engaged in the cultivation of blood oranges for years, the family of Haykush Hovsepyan from Meghri decided to switch from traditional to green agriculture in line with the requirements of the time and develop it. In this matter, the Austrian Development Agency came to the aid of the entrepreneur through the "Green Agriculture Initiative in Armenia" (EU-GAIA) project, which is co-financed by the European Union and the Austrian Development Cooperation.
They became interested in modern agriculture after Haykush's husband learned about the benefits of green and organic agriculture in Israel. According to Haykush, this became the basis for them to switch to green agriculture and apply to the "Green Agriculture Initiative in Armenia" (EU-GAIA) project. Thanks to the project, they got a tractor, hot water through solar heating and crates for transporting blood oranges. All this greatly eased the production work.
After becoming a beneficiary of the Austrian Development Agency, they also began to master market innovations better.
"They helped a lot, especially with marketing issues; they created a brand for me, we are applying the knowledge gained. It is true that the certification process is difficult in Armenia, but little by little we are achieving success. We have applied for an organic producer's certificate, for now we only hope for fresh fruit production, which we will receive at the end of this year, after that we will get the certificate for processing," she says.
According to the producer of green agricultural products, they do not use pesticides at all. Productivity of fresh fruit reaches up to 40 tons, and of dry fruits 15-17 tons. Although the family is involved in the business to its full potential, hired workers come to help during the season, both harvesting and helping with processing. They sell the produce by cooperating with the major dry fruit dealers of Armenia. They do not engage in retail trade, they sell their products wholesale.
"I am not afraid of any work. Men and women of our household work equally. We have a plan to build an old Armenian wine vault for the future, we have reserved an area. We will make it a center of tourism development. Due to the situation, we are a bit slow in doing that, but I am always optimistic, I am sure that Meghri will always stand."
