YerevanMediamax/. General Director of “Garni Invest” Universal Credit Organization Bagrat Asatryan stated today that reduction of the area under crop is observed every year in Armenia.

Mediamax reports that at the meeting with the participants of the Club of Economic Journalists, Bagrat Asatryan stated that “over the past few years the indices of agriculture were dispiriting, irrespective of weather conditions”.

According to him, as compared to 2009, in 2010 the area under crop for grain crops have reduced approximately by 8%, for potatoes – by 13-14%, for vegetables – by 12%. At that, the territories for fruits and grapes were increased up to 10%.

Bagrat Asatryan also touched upon the issue of high risks in agriculture. “As a Head of a Credit Organization, I will not work with villages. There are high risks here and the matter is not the interest rate at all”, he said.

According to him, the banks, functioning in Armenia, are not ready to cooperate with farmers, and institutional changes are needed in this sphere.