YEREVAN, 29 MAY, ARMENPRESS. The government’s programs for support to agriculture helped make it possible to increase arable lands by nearly 15,000 hectares. Out of the 447,005 hectares of arable land parcels, 332,766 hectares were used last year, and the growth continues this year. This is what Deputy Minister of Agriculture of the Republic of Armenia Samvel Galstyan said during the presentation of the report on the executive of the 2014 State Budget at the National Assembly. He mentioned that agriculture makes up 19.7% of the Gross Domestic Product. He informed that there had been more crops. “One of the most important steps that the government took last year was the plan to provide seeds to farmers. Last year, 4,216 tons of seeds for the first reproduction of wheat were allocated to farmers. The level of self-sufficiency with wheat was rated as 50-51 percent in 2014, compared to 32.9% in 2012,” Samvel Galstyan mentioned.

In 2014, the Ministry of Agriculture was allocated AMD 5,222,000,000 and an additional 6,700,000,000 from the state reserve.