At the initiative of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture, changes have been made to the State Technical Assistance Program. According to the decision made at the Government meeting of Georgia, a new component — co-financing of services provided by foreign experts — has been added to the state program.

The program defines the areas of service for consultants and technical consultants. Specifically, the consultant will provide consultations related to agricultural activities for both annual and perennial crops, in open as well as closed soil conditions, while the technical consultant will provide consultations in the field of post-harvest technologies.

According to the terms established by the program, the Rural Development Agency will cover 70% of the cost of services provided by foreign consultants. The co-financing limit amounts to 30,000 GEL. In the case of technical consulting services, the co-financing limit is set at 70%, not exceeding 10,000 GEL. A potential beneficiary can use the program twice a year, with a total co-financing limit of 40,000 GEL.

To receive co-financing for foreign consultant services under the Technical Assistance Program, the beneficiary must be a non-entrepreneurial (non-commercial) legal entity (association) consisting of at least 10 persons, an agricultural cooperative, or a membership-based legal entity of public law established under the Law of Georgia on “Water User Organizations” and the Law of Georgia on “Legal Entities of Public Law.”

According to the program conditions, in order to use the services of a foreign consultant, a potential beneficiary must have an agronomist and possess:

• In the case of perennial crops, at least 50 ha, and for berry crops, at least 30 ha of orchards planted with a single crop;
• For potato or cereal annual crops — at least 100 ha of arable land for the production of a single crop; for vegetable or melon annual crops — at least 50 ha of arable land for a single crop;
• In the case of greenhouses — at least 1 ha of greenhouse area.

To receive technical consulting services in the field of post-harvest technologies, a potential beneficiary must own storage infrastructure with a capacity of at least 2,000 tons.

The changes made to the program will contribute to sharing international experience in the agri-food sector and improving agricultural production, which will subsequently increase both the quantity and quality of the harvest.