Azerbaijan's soil, climate and overall conditions are said to be favorable for large-scale production of various agricultural products. In general, the agriculture sector is considered one of the important directions in the country’s development, as this sector plays a special role in the diversification of the economy, providing the population with food, the development of regions, reducing poverty, addressing social problems and other issues.
Agricultural products worth 4.453 billion manats ($2.62 billion) were produced in Azerbaijan in January-July 2019. This is 6.3 percent more than the same period last year, said the State Statistical Committee.
Some 576,300 tons of potatoes (an increase of 7.9 percent) and 1 million tons of other vegetables were grown in January-July, which is 9.3 percent more than in the same period last year.
Vegetable growing is particularly developed in Khachmaz, Lankaran and Absheron regions. The Khachmaz zone specializes in late maturing, and Lankaran - in farash (early maturing) vegetable growing. A lot of vegetables are also grown in greenhouses around Baku and Ganja.
Moreover, melon production has been increased by 13.5 percent, totaling 349,800 tons. The country also increased fruit and berry production by 17.6 percent to 244,000 tons.
In the first seven months of the year, 5,700 tons of grapes (annual growth of 37.5 percent), 476 tons of green tea leaves (decrease by 11.1 percent) and 2,800 tons of sunflower (growth of 55 percent) were grown.
In general, agricultural production in Azerbaijan amounted to 7 billion manats ($4.11 billion) in 2018, which is 4.6 percent higher than in 2017. The volume of production in livestock amounted to 3.8 billion manats ($2.2 billion), and in crop production - to 3.2 billion manats ($1.9 billion).
