HARVEST FESTIVAL 2006

Azat Artsakh, Republic of Nagorno Karabakh [NKR]
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.

NORAIR HOVSEPIAN.
17-10-2006