Farmer Stands Before Broken Tub: Tons of Grapes Remain on Vines as Factories Refuse to Accept Them

As in previous years, the grape harvest season has arrived, and once again, farmers are left standing before a broken tub. Farmers are worried that their months of hard work could spoil or be sold for a pittance.

Tons of grapes have reached the vines, but they are unable to finalize contracts. “Every year around this time, the grape collection process would have already begun, or at least factories would inform us how many tons they would accept, contracts would be signed. It’s September 23, and there is no collection taking place, we haven’t received any news from the factories, nor has the local municipality informed us. The grapes are ready to be harvested, if it rains or if this situation continues for a few more days, they will spoil. The longer it drags on, the worse it is for us,” said a resident of the Vostan community in the Ararat region, who contacted Auroranews.am.

Auroranews.am tried to connect with the Vostan municipality and then with the Artashat municipality, but it was not possible to establish contact with either organization during working hours. We reached out to Haykaz Terteryan, the head of the Agriculture and Environment Department of the Ararat Provincial Administration. He confirmed that the issue is not only in Vostan or neighboring communities but throughout the entire region.

“We are trying to understand how many tons of grapes there are and are establishing contact with factories to organize the collection,” Terteryan said.

However, the fact is that the farmer who alerted us does not even know that there is a list, nor does he know how he can appear on that list to prevent his grapes from spoiling. The provincial administration states that this needs to be organized by the local municipality. However, it is becoming evident that there is a significant organizational gap.

We also contacted the Ministry of Economy. They stated that work is being done on the issue of grape collection and asked us to send a written inquiry for a comprehensive response.

What it comes down to is that the farmer does their job, cultivates the land, and collects the harvest, but when it comes time for grape collection and sale, they find themselves once again standing before the same broken tub—the collection issue remains pressing.