A new report by Galt & Taggart shows significant productivity challenges in Georgia’s agricultural sector, with yields across main crops trailing both neighboring countries and European benchmarks.
The analysis shows that vegetable production in Georgia averages just 11 tons per hectare, far below regional competitors:
- Azerbaijan– 31 tons per hectare
- Armenia– 35 tons per hectare
The gap extends to other agricultural outputs, with fruit yields at 4.8 tons per hectare in Georgia vs.7 tons in the European Union, and grain yields at 2.8 tons per hectare compared to over 5 tons in Ukraine and the EU.
The report stated that the fragmented structure of Georgia’s agricultural sector is a major constraint on efficiency. The sector is largely dominated by small household farms, while business entities account for only 13% of primary production.
73% of farms are smaller than one hectare and only 2% exceed five hectares
This distribution significantly limits economies of scale, investment capacity and adoption of modern farming practices.
Beyond farm size, the report identifies additional factors contributing to weak productivity, among them low levels of corporatization, limited access to agricultural knowledge and expertise, and technological gaps across production processes.
