«It's a Drought, and the Armenian Farmer Will Face Starvation at the Threshold of Winter» - Vahan Tumasyan

Vahan Tumasyan, president of the Shirak Center NGO, wrote on his Facebook page: “It’s a drought, and the Armenian farmer will face starvation at the threshold of winter... In Armenia, especially in Shirak, particularly in the villages of the former Ani administrative district, there is a terrifying drought that has no precedent for a long time. Many farmers, having lost hope for the harvest, have started to cultivate their spring fields. There is no grass in the fields and hills.

Today, one of the villagers was telling that there are only bones and skin left of the large cattle, and the cows that barely return home weak from hunger don’t even need to be cleaned in the barn because the starving animals don’t chew.

Almost no one has stored hay in the villages of the Ani region, while the grass from the neighboring district’s irrigated areas is also inaccessible and sold at astronomical prices. At the threshold of winter, a large part of the cattle will have to be slaughtered.

The villagers, buried under enormous loans and debts, will not even be able to gather the quantity of grain they have sown... This is the plight of many farmers in Shirak. They need hay for their livestock, fuel, and food, but who will provide it so they can combat the destructive effects of the drought... it remains unknown.”