HARVEST FESTIVAL
Norair Hovsepian
Azat Artsakh, Republic of Nagorno Karabakh
Oct 17 2006
On October 8 the second harvest festival took place in Stepanakert,
in Sasuntsi Davit Street. Tigran Arstamyan, a senior official of the
Ministry of Agriculture, who was the head of the organizing committee,
said this year harvest was poor and they feared that the communities
would not take part in the festival. Nevertheless, the participants
were many. Tigran Arstamyan said if the harvest were good, more
farmers would arrive for the fair. "Our greatest achievement is that
the participants of the previous festival inquired all the time when
the next festival would be. Besides, there are very many farmers who
participate for the first time," he said.
This year, besides the Artsakh-based processing factories, several
Armenian factories participated as well. Despite this enthusiasm, the
organizers failed to lay out stands for display and sale of products.
Last year this question was raised but there was very little or
almost no change this year. The farmers were supposed to take
care of stands. Some people brought small tables, others arranged
the produce on the ground, or sold from their car. This disorder
caused long queues. In fact, nobody minds queues, which are also
part of such fairs, but everyone would agree that it is necessary
to provide conditions for normal trade. "We wanted to hold the fair
this year in a special area and get stands, but this is costly,"
said Tigran Arstamyan. The communities have a lot of problems,
of course, but many farmers found time to come to the capital and
sell their products. Moreover, despite the poor harvest, the number
of participants from some regions grew, including participants from
Kashatagh. This year 11 cars arrived from this region. Suren Abunts,
the mayor of the village of Saratak, took part in both festivals. He
thinks such events are very important and encouraged the farmers
of his community to participate. 3 out of the 11 cars from Kshatagh
were from Saratak. "Buyers often like our produce and want to buy in
big amounts," he says. As for the buyers, they came to the fair not
only out of interest but also because the prices of some products,
such as grapes, potatoes and pork, were lower than on the market,
although the prices of other products were not, and the reason is
poor harvest, the problem of transport, etc. Despite the different
opinions people have, the harvest festival is becoming part of their
lives. Tigran Arstamyan said the second Sunday in October will become
the official day of the Harvest Festival.