Georgian mandarin is cultivated in Western regions of Georgia, in Adjara, Guria, Samegrelo and Apkhazia.
Russia and Ukraine are leading Georgian mandarin export countries, followed by Armenia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Poland, Qatar and Belarus. In 2017 Georgia has exported 21 000 tons of standard mandarin to these countries. In addition, 7 700 tons of non-standard mandarins have already been processed in Georgia.
In 2016 The Ministry of Agriculture of Adjara payed 10 tetri in subsistence farms in 1 kg of non-standard mandarin, which remained in 2017 also.
Additionally, the export of citrus has significantly reduced in Russia from the de facto republic of Abkhazia. The reason was the harmful insect Asian Stink Bug and the damage has deteriorated the quantity and quality of the crop. In 2016, while Apkhazia exported about 60-68 tons daily to Russia, unfortunately this figure decreased to 25 tons in 2017.
Adjara situation was different. Avtandil Meskhidze, Agriculture Minister of Adjara said that Asian stink bug made minimal damage to mandarin in this region.
The 4 million GEL is envisaged in the 2017 state budget to fight against the Asian Stink Bug spread across Georgia. According to the Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Giorgi Khanishvili, the Ministry of Agriculture of Georgia plans to attract major funds through donor organizations.
110 thousand hectares of area, homestead plots and large arrays were treated in the municipalities of Samegrelo, Guria, Imereti and Adjara regions, where the invasive pest is widely spread, treatment activities were implemented through using special equipment, machinery, tractor aggregates and aviation under the frame of the state program – to fight against the Asian stink bug.
