FOOD SECURITY: POSSIBILITIES AND PROSPECTS

Azat Artsakh – Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR)
22 Sept 04

Security of food resources is vitally important for any country,
especially for a country with an unsettled conflict. The Republic of
Nagorni Karabakh is able to provide its food security in reference to
such kinds of food as cereals, vegetables, meat, etc. In 2003 the
total area under agricultural produce and grain was 43972.8 hectares,
in which the share of grain was 41147.8 hectares, potato 1348.8
hectares, vegetables 1393.1 hectares, fodder crops 46.5 hectares,
industrial crops 36.7 hectares. The average yield of main agricultural
products per hectare was the following: grain 2.13 tons, potato 9.46
tons, vegetables 8.5 tons. In the recent years there has been a
constant growth in the production of main agricultural products in
NKR. In 2003 87.4 thousand tonsof grain was harvested, against the
60.9 thousand tons in 2002 and 36 thousandtons in 2001. Last year the
yield of potato was 12756 tons, in 2002 12531 and in 2001 12661
tons. If in the republic effective technologies and irrigation system
was used in farming, the average yield per hectare would be 40-50 tons
of wheat thereby the total grain yield in 2003 would be 164-200
thousand tons.The crop yield per capita would be 1 tons of grain which
is a world standard of self-sufficiency in grain. The same refers to
other types of agricultural products. Fore example, in 2003 the
average yield of potato per hectare totaled 9.46 tons. But in case of
using effective technologies this rate would grow up to 40-50 tons,
and from 1384 hectares of area under crop it would be possible to
harvest 53930 tons of potato, or 371 kg per capita, which surpasses
the standard rate of consumption of this product three times. The same
refers to other kinds of vegetables. In 2003 the total area used for
vegetable growing was 1120 hectares, 12.7 thousand tons of vegetables
was harvested, and the average yield per hectare was 8.5 tons. A
person should have 250-300 g of vegetables per day, and the yearly
amount of vegetables to be consumed by a person is 91-109 kg. In 2003
in NKR 87.5 kg of vegetables per capita was produced. Whereas, by
using modern technologies in land farming it would be possible to
increase the average crop yield per hectare to 1.6 tons thereby
producing 17.9 thousand tons of vegetables on 1120 hectares of farming
land, which would mean 123 kg production per capita. Thus, from the
strategic aspect of food security, to achieve self-sufficiency in
agricultural production (provided that the population of NKR is
planned to increase up to 200 thousand) NKR will need to have 41
thousand hectares of arable land with an average crop yield of 5 tons
per hectare or 50 thousand hectares with 4 tons per hectare, 1200
hectares of potato with an average crop yield of 2 tons per hectare,
and 1500 hectares of vegetables with an average yield of 16 tons per
hectare. Therefore, a country with 200 thousand inhabitants needs to
have 53 thousand hectares of farming land to provide food security. At
the beginning of the 1980’s the total area under crop was 72 thousand
hectares in the Autonomous Region of Nagorni Karabakh, and it means
that the necessary area for self-sufficiency will be 73 per cent of
the area under crop in the former self-governing region. The problem
of irrigation is to be viewed in the context of using effective
technologies in increasing the crop yield per hectare. One ton of
grain needs to be irrigated 2-3 times a year each time using 500 cubic
meters of water. One ton of potatoes requires 100 cubic meters of
water, one ton of tomato needs 520-719 cubic meters of water, one ton
of cucumber 120-200 cubic meters of water. In order to grow 200
thousand tons of grain, 30 thousand tons of potato, 22 thousand tons
of vegetables in NKR 320 million cubic meters of water needs to be
used, which is 41 per cent of the volume of the water reservoir of
Sarsang. However, food security is not limited to agricultural produce
only. Meat, milk and dairy products are also an important component of
food security. In this context it is essential to increase the amount
of cattle, pigs, poultry. In 2003 the average amount ofmilk produced
by each cow during the year totaled 1444 kg or 3.9 kg daily which is a
very low rate. In 1975-1987 the average rate was 1750-2500 kg annually
(4.8-6.8 kg daily), and the highest rates were in the town Martakert
(3400-3470 kg yearly or 9.3-9.5 kg daily) and the village Gishi
(3100-3120 kg annually or 8.4-8.5 kg daily). To achieve
self-sufficiency in milk and meat production new kinds of cattle need
to be bred. Suppose a cow daily produces an average of9 kg of milk in
NKR. A person needs in average 1 kg of milk and dairy products
daily. To satisfy the demand of dairy products of the present
population ofNKR (about 150 thousand) it is necessary to breed 17
thousand head of cattle. And with the present rates of average
production of milk (i.e. 4 kg daily) the amount of cattle will need to
be increased up to 38 thousand. A person needs 81 kg of meat yearly,
including beef, pork, mutton and poultry. Satisfying the demand of 150
thousand people will require 20 thousand head of cattle, 60 thousand
pigs, sheep 140 thousand, 1.5 million domestic birds. And all
thisduring a single year only. But the amount of cattle needs to be
restored. According to agricultural standards, 100 cows may produce
100 calves, 100 sheep 120 lambs, 100 pigs 2200 piglets. What is more,
in case of free copulation one bull will be needed for 40-50 cows, one
male sheep for 20-30 female, one male pig for 10 female
pigs. Therefore, for restoring the amount of cattle additional 21
thousand head of cattle will be needed (20 thousand cows, 500-1000
bulls), 180 thousand sheep (170 thousand female and 10 thousand male
sheep) and 3.5 thousand pigs (3 thousand female and 500 male
pigs). All in all, to satisfy the demand of meat and milk of 150
thousand people there will be needed 42-60 thousand head of cattle
(depending on the average production of milk), 320 thousand sheep, 65
thousand pigs, as well as 1.8 million domestic birds (1.5 millionfor
meat and 350 thousand for eggs). By the way, in the years of
confrontation with Azerbaijan before restoring land communication with
Armenia the amount of cattle practically coincided with these days due
to which the population in blockade had a supply of agricultural
production. In 1988 there was 100 thousand head of cattle, 300
thousand sheep and 95 thousand pigs. According to agricultural
estimates, a head of cattle needs 100 liters of water daily, asheep
needs 10, a pig 25 and a domestic bird 1-1.2 liters of water. All in
all 4 million cubic meters of water will be needed yearly (1.5 million
for cows, 1.17 million for sheep, 0.6 million for pigs, and 0.79
million for poultry) which is only 0.6 per cent of the total volume of
the reservoir of Sarsang. To provide the supply of the main
agricultural products for the population 325 million cubic meters of
water or 54.6 per cent of the reservoir of Sarsang will be needed. Of
what was said above can be concluded that the Republic of Nagorni
Karabakh may fully provide the food security of its population in
reference to the main agricultural products. Moreover, our country may
have a significant contribution to the food security of Armenia. In
this context special importance is attributed to water security,
particularly the problem of protection of therivers Tartar, Khachen,
Aghavno, etc. And this aspect is one of the main components of the
settlement of the Karabakh conflict. Therefore, all possible efforts
should be made for the settlement of the conflict which actually means
the secure existence of the Armenian people on their land.

DAVIT BABAYAN.
22-09-2004