The Georgian-Polish company “Agromax Decor” with the co-financing of the state began the production of blueberry nursery plants in Georgia. Agromax Decor has been operating on the market since 2013. The main profile of the company was the sale of ornamental plants, but in 2018 the company started considering the production of blueberry plants.
Investments in the nursery amount to 500 000 GEL ($176 800), of which 350 000 GEL ($123 800) were financed by the state. According to the representative of the company Ivane Kopadze, this amount was used to purchase mother plants in Poland and special equipment to produce plants with minimal human contact in Italy.
“Agromax Decor” propagates mother plants by cuttings. The plants grown locally are certified by the Agricultural Research Center of Georgia.
In the first year of operation, the nursery produced 200 000 plants ready for sale. According to Kopadze, 80% of nursery plants are planned to be sold in Georgia.
“We had an obligation to the state to produce at least 50 000 plants, but we produced 4 times more, because we believe that the local market has a demand for at least 80% of this amount. We will start selling in the fall when planting starts. Our clients will mainly be the beneficiaries of the Plant the Future state program,” Kopadze said.
According to Kopadze, Agromax Decor currently has no direct competitors in the local market, since most of the blueberry nursery plants used to be imported to Georgia.
“Compared to imported nursery plants, we will have several advantages. Firstly, the buyer will be able to evaluate the quality of plants on the spot before buying. Another advantage is that, as a rule, plants experience stress during long-term transportation, which is impossible in our case. In addition, our prices will be 15-20% lower compared to imports,” Kopadze said.
The blueberry nursery “Agromax decor” is planted on 16 hectares. Blueberry varieties currently available include Duke, O’Neill, Draper, Legacy, Bluecrop and Bluegold. In addition to local sales, the company is considering exporting to Turkey, Belarus and Ukraine.
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