Ilia Tamarashvili, Director of the Rural Development Agency and Valerian Mchedlidze, State Representative in the Shida Kartli Region, summarized the results of the state program to promote the sale of sub-standard apples at a meeting held withthe headquarters staff and the heads of enterprises involved in the program.

Fruit processing enterprises involved in the state program accepted more than 35 thousand tons of sub-standard apples. As a result, the farmers income totaled to more than GEL 9 million, inter alia the state subsidy is in excess of GEL 3.5 million.

The state program to promote the sale of sub-standard apples has been launched in September this year to support farmers. In order to ensure organized delivery of sub-standard apples, the Coordination Headquarters has operated in Gori by the decision of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture.

Within the framework of the state program, the subsidy was 10 tetri per 1 kg of sub-standard apples. The program included all those fruit processing enterprises which would purchase 1 kg of sub-standard apples at no less than 22 tetri from individuals employed in the fruit growing sector.

Within the framework of the state program, 13 fruit processing enterprises were involved in accepting the sub-standard apples in the territories of Shida Kartli, Kakheti, Mtskheta-Mtianeti Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti regions.