High profits from cattle farm garbage
Farmer Mkhitar Manukyan offers an interesting solution for Armenian villagers to get out of the heavy social state, and that is to use the garbage of their cattle farms as a source of income instead of throwing it away.
"Armenian villagers burn the garbage as cow dung in the winter to keep their homes warm. They throw ash (caliuma-phosphore fertilizer) in garbage cans or don't use it wisely," Mkhitar Manukyan told "A1+" in an interview.
He suggests that villagers pour the ash in bags and sell them to the Ministry of Agriculture. "That will help villagers get out of the heavy social state and will help fertilize the lands of other villages."
Based on his estimates, there can be up to 200 and more tons of ash thrown in the garbage, and can be estimated to cost 10 million drams, if it is assessed as fertilizer.
"There hasn't been any caliuma-phosphorous fertilizer injected in the lands for 20 years, and villagers throw the ashes away. This has led to a sharp decline of harvest, low quality of crops and less profit for villagers," said Manukyan.
He informs the Ministry of Agriculture about this from time to time, but in vain. He recently appealed to the Prime Minister, but hasn't received any response.
"They're not taking any steps to help the villagers get out of this situation," Manukyan says.
Acting Head of the Department of Harvests at the Ministry of Agriculture Gevorg Harutyunyan told "A1+" that the ministry had no plan to purchase the ash from villagers and that there would rarely be such a program anytime soon.
According to him, there is no need for that because villagers cultivate the lands with garbage from the cattle farm in any case.
