In Azerbaijan, the lion"s share of imported rice does not pass customs control

In 2012, Azerbaijan collected 3,878 tons of rice. This is 1.4% more than the previous year. The level of local production of rice in the country since 2009, has been declining from year to year.

According to the State Statistics Committee, rice was planted in 2012 on 1,686 hectares. This is 4.5% less than in 2011. Production growth was achieved through productivity. Last year, on one hectare were harvested 23 quintals of rice, which is 1.3 quintals more than in the year 2011.

The government subsidizes the production of rice. In addition to 40 manats per cultivated hectare, farmers growing wheat and rice still receive 40 manat. However, according to experts of the Ministry of Agriculture, some farmers prefer the production of vegetables.

Traditional rice-growing regions in Azerbaijan are Agdash and Astara. However, compared with 2000, in Astara the rice production fell by 14,320 tonnes and in 2012 was only 589 tons. In 2000, the country collected 22,300 tonnes of rice.

According to the State Customs Committee for the 9 months of 2012, Azerbaijan had 15,237 tons of imported rice with a total declared value of $ 5 million.

Note that, according to the SSC of Azerbaijan, the annual consumption of rice in the country per capita is 7.4 kg. From this calculation, it follows that the consumption of rice per year is about 68,000 tons. Thus, it appears that a significant portion of rice imported into the country is not registered at the customs. - 08B-