While the RA Ministry of Agriculture’s Health Safety Inspectorate reports that it hasn’t found excessive levels of nitrates in fruits and vegetables imported to Armenia last month, it might be of interest to readers to see where such items, staples of Armenian holiday tables, actually came from.

Right off the bat, we should note that Iran is a major supplier, exporting tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, citrus fruits and even carrots (three tons worth) to Armenia. The amount of onions Iran exported to Armenia was 300 tons.

Given that Armenia exported 380 tons of onions and garlic in a nine month period in 2013 (according to customs figures), it’s hard to imagine what triggered such a rise in monthly demand. Most likely, tomatoes and cucumbers are being imported under the name of onions.

Coming in second place as a supplier is Georgia, mostly due to its citrus crops. 143 tons of tangerines were exported to Armenia from Armenia’s neighbor to the north. Interestingly enough, 100 tons were also imported from Pakistan, a country with whom Armenia has no diplomatic relations. I would venture to guess that the tangerines were purchased from the UAE market.

During December watermelon and cantaloupe were imported from Brazil, pears and apples from the U.S., strawberries from Holland, and peppers from Spain.

So what fruit and veg did Armenia export during the same month? - Only potatoes, grapes and tarragon. By the way, this year Armenia exported ten times more potatoes than the previous year.

While we say that Armenia is an agricultural country, it imports much more fruits and vegetables than it exports. Partially, the reason is to do with our climate. We just can’t grow many citrus fruits here. But what about crops like apples. Even during bumper crop years, Armenia imports large quantities of apples. The same goes for carrots.

Other countries, faced with the same conditions, would place certain restrictions on imports. Turkey, for example, places high tariffs on fruit imports. Iran has basically banned all such imports. It’s only Armenia where domestic agriculture is undefended.

500,000 people are engaged in Armenia’s agricultural sector, or about 45% of the total workforce.