Association: “We have plenty of fruits and vegetables for the domestic market”

Currently, plenty of fruits and vegetables are sold in the domestic market in Azerbaijan. Therefore, the prices have decreased," Chairman of the Azerbaijan Fruit and Vegetable Producers and Exporters Association, Bashir Guliyev, told Report.

He said that the main seasons for fruits and vegetables are already over:

"Currently, vegetables sold in the domestic market are grown in open fields in Khachmaz. Cucumbers will be harvested around September. Now it is the season for harvesting products such as eggplant and pepper for the domestic market in those open fields. Due to climatic conditions, the season was delayed by 10-15 days this year. Therefore, there was a slight shortage of fruits and vegetables in June. But now there are plenty of fruit and vegetable products. Therefore, the price of fruits and vegetables is falling. After the harvest in the open fields I mentioned, the season will end. Currently, it is the season of potato harvesting in the country. In Tovuz, the potato harvest is over, and in Gazakh, it has just started and continues. The disease was widespread in Tovuz, so the potato yield is slightly lower this year. In Kazakhstan, the disease has not spread to such an extent."

Guliyev also spoke about Azerbaijan's export of fruits and vegetables:

"The main export season for drupe fruits is over. They were collected and exported. Drupe fruits placed in refrigerators will be exported in August. The tomato season ended in early July and will start again at the end of October. There are currently no exports. During the export period, we face serious logistical problems. Our shipping costs have doubled this year. The reason for this is the change in the transportation route due to the Russian-Ukrainian war. The price of Baku-Moscow transportation, which used to cost $2 thousand, has reached $4,500-5,000. Unfortunately, it does not positively affect sales because there is competition with other countries in the market. As a result, the cost of the producer increases and the profit decreases."

In January-June 2022, the export of fruit and vegetable products from Azerbaijan increased by 7.1% compared to last year and amounted to $328.1 million.