“Shen” supports young potato farmers in Karnut

Back in February 2024, a group of five young potato farmers from Karnut settlement of Akhuryan consolidated community, Shirak marz, submitted an application to the "The establishment and strengthening of agricultural cooperatives with the use of improved legislation and modern technologies" project implemented by the "Shen" NGO with the funding of Bread for the World.

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The members of the group are engaged in potato cultivation. Each of them cultivates an average of 10 hectares of land, mainly in Karnut. Lands are owned by the group members or leased from private individuals. In recent years, the group has improved about 10-12 hectares of uncultivated land, especially for the purpose of potato production. 

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Karnut's group needed a potato harvester as well as a sorter. The mentioned machines were provided to the group by "Shen" NGO with 50% co-financing of the group members. Already in this agricultural season, the group was able to use the machines.

The harvester eased the group members' financial burden. Previously, they had to rent a similar machine or order a service.

Thanks to the potato sorter machine, several problems were solved at once. First of all, there is a lack of labor force in the region and the farmers had great difficulty in finding daily laborers, while over 30 people are needed per day to sort potatoes by hand for the amount of the harvest received by the group. Now 8 people work in the warehouse, which is very important for the farmers in the conditions taking into account the shortage of workers.

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In addition, it is necessary to quickly sort the potatoes that have been stored in the warehouse, so that the spoiled potatoes do not spoil the entire crop. As the speed is a problem with manual sorting, with the help of this machine, farmers also solve that problem, ensuring a higher quality product for consumers, as well as the least possible loss of the crop before realization.

At the moment, with the help of the machine, 30 tons of potatoes are sorted per day, instead of 5 tons sorted manually previously. After sorting their crops, the farmers also intend to provide service to other potato growers from Karnut and neighboring villages, as there is high demand among them.