Country starts exporting corn
By Leman Mammadova
Azerbaijan has started exporting corn abroad. Some 0.9 tons of corn has been delivered to neighboring Georgia.
There are favorable conditions for expanding the export geography of this crop, the Ministry of Agriculture told Trend.
Recently, there has been a rapid increase in corn production due to this product’s importance. This year, corn has been sown in the area of 32,900 hectares across the country, which is 4.1 percent more compared to last year.
Some 14,400 tons of corn was harvested from 3,000 hectares in January-July 2019, which is 2.9 percent more compared to the same period last year. This year, the harvest amounted to 47.9 centners per hectare, the ministry noted.
Much work has been done to increase corn productivity in Azerbaijan. Over the past 20 years, studies on hybridization and selective breeding of corn have been carried out at the experimental site of the laboratory of the Azerbaijan State Agrarian University, thanks to which high results have been achieved and the gene pool of corn has been enriched.
In 2011, the new ADAU-80 corn variety was obtained. Currently, this variety of corn is widely grown in many regions and farms across the country. This variety is superior to others, both local and imported ones, not only in terms of productivity, but also in terms of green mass.
Another corn variety, Ganja, was obtained in 2014. A new corn variety, Mahsuldar, has also been obtained.
The highest yield of corn in Azerbaijan is recorded in Shaki-Zagatala and Aran economic regions.
Recently, the Research Institute of Crop Husbandry has started the "Hybrid Corn Seed Production in Azerbaijan" project jointly with a number of Turkish research centers. Earlier, the production of Adasa 16 hybrid corn seeds began in Agjabadi region.
The production of hybrid seeds in Azerbaijan will lead to the further increase in productivity and will contribute to the further development of the country's economy.
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Leman Mammadova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @leman_888
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