Federation of Youth Clubs of Armenia(FYCA), in cooperation with MIJARC Europe international youth network organized a local visit to several agricultural farms in Nor Geghi (Kotayk province), Armenia in March.
The visits started with several meetings with local youth representatives and local & regional authorities. At first, the attendees discussed current situation and existing challenges facing the youth in the region. Later, it was time to start the meetings with the farmers located in the region.
The local visit to several agricultural farms in Armenia gathered more than 20 young volunteers and members from the organization, and also representatives from local and regional authorities from Kotayk province, Armenia.
Prior to the visit, the organization contacted with the provincial administration representatives of Kotayk region through FYCA regional coordinator, Mari Hovakimyan. The visit was co-organized by the head of Nor Geghi community, Vardan Papyan and his administrative team.
The field visit started from “Green” intensive apple orchards, where farmers’ staff presented the basics of the fruit cultivation. The participants explored all the stages of producing apples: starting from the basic steps of orchard establishment and development to packing the ready-steady fruits for consumption. The apple orchards have been established in Nor Geghi community in 2016 and currently cover nearly 30 hectares, with the goal of expanding the area by 20 hectares in the nearest future. In addition to apples, pear, plum and cherry trees will also be planted there.
It is also interesting to know that the intensive orchards are harvested earlier than traditional orchards. In case of intensive orchards, up to ten times more seedlings are planted on 1 hectare of land. The farm grows a huge variety of apples and each of them is uniquely different in its own way.
Having explored the techniques and logistics of the production, it was time to carry out the second visit in the region. The next farm was a fishpond, belonging to “Ninel” LLC and providing employment opportunities to locals.
Afterwards, the team headed to the third well-known farm, “Lusakert” poultry factory. During the visit, the team got acquainted with the bird breeding conditions and technical equipment of the cultivation. As the factory staff informed, the chickens are kept in exclusively natural and ecological conditions, thus providing ecologically pure and nutritious products.