Azernews.Az

BAKU – US Ambassador to Azerbaijan Matthew Bryza visited the central Goychay region on Friday to meet with representatives of the pomegranate sector, including farmers, processors and wholesale buyers to study the opportunities as well as the constraints facing the sector, the US embassy in Baku said.

The ambassador began his visit with a tour of the production and cold storage facilities of Aznar, one of the largest processors in the region. Aznar receives technical assistance from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the development agency of the US government. The ambassador then met with a local wholesale buyer and toured a local farmer’s pomegranate orchard.

"The United States is committed to assisting Azerbaijan to diversify its economy and the agricultural sector, particularly in pomegranate production, one area where we have very effective collaboration. USAID assistance is helping the pomegranate sector contribute significantly to the growth of the economy and rural people’s well-being," Bryza said.

He also said USAID will continue to support improvements in competitiveness of the sector, including training in good agricultural practices, input supply, cold storage management, post-harvest care and marketing of the products. The ambassador noted that improving yields will lead not only to increased sales and profits, but will also help create critically important, high-paying jobs in the agribusiness sector. Bryza assured that the USAID technical consultants will continue to work with the sector’s leading players to find new and dynamic markets in an ongoing effort to continue to grow this important sector.