YEREVAN. - Pastures cover an area of 1.1 million hectares in Armenia, with only 30 to 50 per cent of them used, Armenian Minister of Agriculture Sergo Karapetyan told journalists on Thursday.

In 1987, feed acreage per livestock unit was one hectare against 0.4 hectare now. Moreover, upland pastures are not used in a number of Armenian regions, while nearby pastures are overused.

According to new rules proposed by the Armenian Ministry of Agriculture, pastures will be leased out to farmers at low rates. Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan stated that farmers will not pay an annual lease of AMD 240,000 (about $636).