Agriculture in Georgia (country)

The climate of Georgia makes it ideal for growing corn and harvesting grapes and tea
Tea production in Georgia, depicted on a 1951 Soviet postage stamp

Georgia’s climate and soil have made agriculture one of its most productive economic sectors; in 1990, the 18 percent of arable Georgian land generated 32 percent of the republic's net material product in 1990.[1] Since the end of the Soviet period, there has been a decline in the agricultural labor force: some 25 percent of the Georgian workforce was engaged in agriculture in 1990; 37 percent had been so engaged in 1970.[1]

In the Soviet period, swampy areas in the west were drained and arid regions in the east were salvaged by a complex irrigation system, allowing Georgian agriculture to expand production tenfold between 1918 and 1980.[1] However, production was hindered in the Soviet period by the misallocation of agricultural land, such as the assignment of prime grain fields to tea cultivation and excessive specialization.[1] Georgia’s emphasis on labor-intensive crops such as tea and grapes kept the rural workforce at an unsatisfactory level of productivity.[1]

As of 2011, 281,000 hectares of land were sown, representing 35.0% of the arable land;1,823,000 head of livestock were cataloged; and agribusiness represented 9.3% of the national GDP. 2012 preliminary data shows agribusiness contribution as 8.4% of GDP.[2][3][4][5]

  1. ^ a b c d e Curtis, Glenn E. (1995). Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia : country studies (1st ed.). Washington, D.C.: Federal Research Division. pp. 198–199. ISBN 0-8444-0848-4. OCLC 31709972. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  2. ^ Circle. "საქართველოს სტატისტიკის ეროვნული სამსახური". www.geostat.ge (in Georgian). Retrieved 2020-10-29.
  3. ^ FAO (December 2012). "Assessment of the Agriculture and Rural Development Sectors in the Eastern Partnership countries - Georgia". Archived from the original on June 6, 2013. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
  4. ^ Nana Bolashvili, Andreas Dittmann, Lorenz King, Vazha Neidze (eds.): National Atlas of Georgia, 138 pages, Steiner Verlag, 2018, ISBN 978-3-515-12057-9
  5. ^ FAO (December 2012). "შეფასება სოფლის მეურნეობის სექტორში აღმოსავლეთ პარტნიორობის ქვეყნების - საქართველოს ახალი ამბები" (in Georgian). Archived from the original on April 10, 2016. Retrieved March 15, 2013.