In January 2021, Farming Company Walnuts.ge will finish arranging American Chandler Walnuts gardens on 150 hectares in the village of Giorgitsminda, Sagarejo District, Kakheti Region.

As noted by the company director David Bukhnikashvili, the objective of the company is to develop big, industrial gardens and produce premium-quality products. “Georgia is a small country.

Therefore, we should earn maximum profits on every inch of our lands. Today, walnuts gardens grow on 85 hectares. In January 2021, we will cover 65 hectares in addition. There are the best climate conditions in Georgia and we should use this opportunity. Despite the millennial heritage of arranging walnuts gardens, Georgia lacks knowledge and experience of industrial production of walnuts varieties, including the Chandler variety.

This is a new direction in Georgia, but it is a well-known walnut variety on the global market and there is much demand for its premium-quality products. The project was implemented together with German and Australian partners and the investments marked GEL 12 million. The company employs about 20 persons on a constant basis, but on seasons the company hires 30-40 local residents from neighboring villages”, Bukhnikashvili said As for the costs, the company has spent around GEL 5 million on arranging 3-4-lane drip irrigation system and Israeli premium-class automated fertirrigtion management systems that enable to manage the system from any point of the world.

“This signifies that the initial development investments are very high, around GEL 70,000. In turn, we will receive 7 tons on 1 hectare in 7-8 years, while the price of 1 kilogram is $3.5 (the global market prices). There are other players too in the sector. There are many good farmers in Georgia and all of us learn and make progress in stages. Besides the domestic market, European and Central Asian countries represent our target markets.

Negotiations are underway with Germany too. Several manufactures in Germany expressed interest to buy high-quality walnuts in Georgia because the global market lacks the premium- quality walnuts”, Bukhnikashvili noted.

CBW