Ministers of Economy and Agriculture and Governor of Armavir Marz
visit ATG Operations
PRESS RELEASE
Armenian Technology Group, Inc., 1300 East Shaw Avenue, suite 131,
P.O. Box 5969, Fresno, CA 93755-5969
June 22, 2009
Contact: Peter Ara Guekguezian at 559-224-1000
The Armenian Minister of Economy. Nerces Yeritzyan, joined by the
newly appointed Minister of Agriculture, Gerasim Alaverdyan, made a
special working visit to the Armenian Technology Group Foundation
(ATG) operations headquarters in Armavir Region.
Governor of Armavir Marz, Ashot Ghahramanyan, and Ishkhan Karapetyan,
Executive Director for the Small and Medium Entrepreneurship
Development National Center (SME-DNC) of Armenia, also participated in
the field trip.
The purpose of their visit was to observe and familiarize themselves
with ATG’s latest development project — conservation agriculture —
and its long term benefits for the country.
The ministers, accompanied by their senior staff members, visited the
ATG warehouses to learn about the new no-till farming equipment and
methodology that ATG has introduced to Armenian farmers. The no-till
system is widely used in countries around the world at the forefront
of agriculture, including the USA, Canada, Argentina, and Brazil,
where more than 95 million hectares of land are being cultivated
annually with this conservation technology.
Conservation farming technology provides two major sustainable
benefits to the country: it allows farmers to save money and
resources; and, it enhances the quality of the farmland and increases
its productivity.
Agriculture is a challenging and difficult occupation, especially in
Armenia, where farmers use outdated farm equipment that is both
inefficient and expensive to operate.
Based on 20 years of working experience in the agricultural sector of
Armenia along with its vast network of farmer-cooperatives, ATG’s
focus for the immediate future is to transfer knowledge and technology
to farmers by conducting educational seminars and field
demonstrations, thus encouraging them to adopt conservation farming
technology and helping them lower their operating costs.
Gagik Mkrchyan, ATGF Country Director in Armenia, guided the visit. He
emphasized that the no-till system can reduce farm operating costs
between 30-50,000 AMD per hectare. This becomes more significant when
taking into account the dry land and semi-mountainous areas that
abound in Armenia, where profitable farming operation requires much
more effort and focus. No-till farming technology should reduce fuel
consumption by 37 percent, and farm labor and farm equipment operating
costs by 50 percent.
After studying the new equipment that ATG had introduced, the Minister
of Economy stated "Farm equipment technologies have not been developed
in Armenia. This new no-till planter could provide a wonderful
opportunity to start cooperation between the government/public sector
and private sector. It is necessary to encourage farmers to adapt the
use of this system. We must persuade the private sector to be engaged
in small business development." Minister Yeritzyan further stated that
we should appreciate the possibilities and opportunities that this new
system can provide to the republic, adding that Armenia’s grain
production is not enough to satisfy its consumption.
The current economic situation in Armenia has created a very difficult
situation in the country: many farmers are no longer able to afford
cultivating their land. The inefficiency of the farm equipment
available to them, plus rising fuel and irrigation water costs, makes
it almost impossible for the small farmer to break even. As a result,
thousand of hectares of land have been left idle and are not being
cultivated. In the long term, this will have a devastating and
negative impact on local food supplies.
"In these challenging economic times, we believe it is essential to
assist the food producers in Armenia to reduce their operating cost as
much as possible." said Varoujan Der Simonian, Executive Director of
ATG. "It is not an accident that the Scientific American Magazine has
devoted one of its cover stories to no-till farming practices, which
it calls a ‘Quiet Revolution.’ We are pleased by the positive
evaluation of the Ministries of Economy and Agriculture, and will join
forces with them to find a solution in helping farmers reduce their
operating costs and increase their profit margins."
The ministers also observed the immediate impact that the new system
will have on the environment. It minimizes mechanical soil
disturbance, which will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, soil
compaction and the potential for soil erosion, and the disruption of
soil biological cycles. The system will also maintain moisture in the
soil, reducing the amount of irrigation needed and thus allowing
Armenia to conserve its scarce water resources.
ATG was established in 1989 in Fresno, California as a 501(c)3
non-profit public benefit corporation. For the past 20 years, ATG has
been focused on providing technical assistance to rural Armenia in
establishing long-term, sustainable economic development projects in
Armenia and Artsakh. You may contact ATG at P.O. Box 5969 — Fresno,
CA 93755, or