Fresnans helping to feed Armenia
Nonprofit’s program provides wheat seed in 326 villages there and in
Nagorno-Karabakh.
By Dennis Pollock / The Fresno Bee
11/25/06 05:08:26
Seeds planted in Armenia are reaping a harvest of praise for a Fresno
nonprofit and the farmers it has helped.
Hovhanness Galoyan, a wheat grower from the Armenian village of
Karnut, was recognized recently by the government of Armenia for his
farming efforts that were assisted by the Fresno-based Armenian
Technology Group Inc (ATG).
And a tally by the Fresno organization shows that its 14-year-old
program to provide wheat seed has reached farmers in 302 villages in
Armenia and 24 villages in the neighboring Nagorno-Karabakh region.
"It is a moving experience to be able to put bread on the Armenian
table," said Nubar Tashjian, the group’s president.
The wheat grown in Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh as a result of the
collaboration is for domestic use, said Varoujan Der Simonian, the
organization’s executive director. The region was plagued in 2000 by
famine and has struggled to rebuild its farming industry in the years
following the breakup of the former Soviet Union.
At an Armenian International AgroForum Conference in Yerevan, Galoyan
was awarded a gold medal for accomplishments that included achieving
wheat yields three to four times higher than the country’s average.
Working with the Fresno group, Galoyan mastered the production of
high-quality certified wheat seed. He is a member of the Seed
Producers Support Association founded by the Armenian Technology Group
in 1998. The association has 47 members who specialize in growing
high-quality wheat, alfalfa, corn and barley seeds appropriate for
different growing zones in Armenia.
The seed project drew praise from Davit Lokyan, Armenia’s minister of
agriculture.
The Armenian Technology Group Seed Multiplication Program has been
funded through: The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign
Agricultural Service and its Food for Progress program. The Lincy
Foundation. The Bertha and John Garabedian Charitable Foundation in
Fresno. Pilgrim Armenian Congregational Church in Fresno.
Organizations and individuals in the United States.
Retired University of California Extension agent Roger Benton, a
longtime adviser with Armenian Technology, said he was pleased to see
farmers getting the recognition.
"They are the backbone of Armenia’s rural economy," Benton said.
"ATG farmers worked so hard to help feed the nation and their
families. I remember particularly when our seed growers literally
saved thousands of people from possible starvation and famine by
supplying clean and treated seed to over 12,000 farmers to plant their
winter wheat in 2000.
"May God bless them all."
Mekhitar Grigorian, an agronomist working at the Ministry of
Agriculture in Armenia, wrote his recollection of the day the seed
project was launched in 1992 by a group of Americans who used "their
bare hands and shovels" to plant the seed on a cold, snowy day,
kneeling as they worked with the soil.
"I will never forget that day, and I feel honored that I was part of
those fine people, who cared so much for us and farmers in Armenia,"
Grigorian wrote.
The Armenian Technology Group began its assistance to Armenia after an
earthquake there in 1988.
Its projects have included fertilizer production, farm equipment
manufacturing and assistance to the honey-bee, and wine-grape
industries.
The reporter can be reached at [email protected] or (559)
441-6364.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
