YEREVAN. - By the end of 2016, Armenia will provide grants for the implementation of several dozens of organic agricultural projects, Armenian Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Armen Harutyunyan, told Armenian News – NEWS.am.

The means will be provided in the framework of a 3.3 mln euro program, which will last for three months.  It is funded by the Austrian Development Agency and EU.

The grant support makes up nearly 1.3 mln euro out of the mentioned amount, while the rest will be provided for technical support, export development, as well as organic farm cultures and manufacturing.

The Agriculture Ministry is currently summing up the results of the grant proposals from medium and large businesses. It is planned to select 25-30 projects. At the second stage, the selection will take place already between small companies and farmer cooperatives. The projects in both groups must be selected by the end of the year.

The already received projects include manufacturing of dry fruit, honey, organic winemaking and even ecotourism.

The selected proposals will be assessed by specialists on the ground. Of course, this way or other, the shift from ordinary agriculture to the organic one requires certain time, including for cleaning the soil, but there are places where it is actually impossible, for instance near chemical enterprises. Thus, the project sites should be checked, Harutyunyan noted.

The proposals are also received from those who already have a certificate for dealing with organic agriculture and those who don't have but would like to acquire such. In case of winning the competition, they will have to apply for getting a certification.