23:35, 6 March 2018

USA offers Georgia USD 3.5 million to fight BMSB

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) will provide Georgia with financial support to combat the invasion of the brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB), which seriously harmed Georgian agriculture in 2017.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in 2017, in Western Georgia, BMSBs destroyed vast plantations of hazelnuts, one of the country's main export products. Farmers demanded compensation from the authorities. At a protest action held on October 17, 2017, one of the oppositional leaders said that tens of thousands Georgia families lost their incomes because of the pests.

BMSBs also inflicted great damage on the Abkhazian agriculture. After the 2017 invasion, more than 70% of the hazelnut harvest and about 50% of the citrus crop were lost, Raul Khajimba, President of Abkhazia, said on December 20, 2017.

Today, Levan Davitashvili, the Georgia's Minister of Environment and Agriculture, and Brok Birman, the USAID's Deputy Administrator for Europe and Eurasia, have signed a document, under which Georgia will receive 3.5 million US dollars to fight the invasion of BMSBs.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.