Food & climate
While the smell of petrol thanks to a nearby refinery appears at the United Nations climate conference COP29, in Baku, Smell of Azerbaijani apple receives visitors and delegations, according to a report seen by “Food & Climate” platform.
Azerbaijan is a major producer of oil and gas, so, many criticized its hosting to COP29. But the president of COP29’s has told the UN climate conference that oil and gas are a “gift of God”.
Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev criticized “Western fake news” about the country’s emissions and said nations “should not be blamed” for having fossil fuel reserves, according to “BBC”.
The host country of the COP29 has good agricultural production, which ranks second among the country’s exports after oil and gas, and among these exports is Azerbaijani apple.
“Devex” website correspondent, said: “from the Taliban, the ever-present smell of petrol thanks to a nearby refinery, and incredibly fresh Uzbek apples at the country’s pavilion. The summit is known as the finance COP due to its focus on drumming up funds for climate finance, and we’re closely watching to see how much of that money goes to building more sustainable food systems”.
Azerbaijani apple
Azerbaijan with its variegated nature containing almost all climatic zones has about 300 varieties of apples. Yellow, green, red, purple and pink – the color palette of growing apples are very rich and colorful.
Guba region may rightly be considered as a motherland of Azerbaijani apple. All the region is full of apple orchards. Smell of juicy and aromatic apple trees have spread into every stone and every house of this beautiful northern region. It seems like you are in the heaven of apples.
Guba’s most famous kind of apple is the “White Apple” (Ag alma). One cannot satisfy his/her hunger trying this yellow, fragrant and red cheeked fruit. Azerbaijanis are so proud of this kind of apple that they wrote a song for it called “Guba’s White Apple”. And it is not surprisingly when you think that one-third of them are involved in the apple harvesting in some capacity, according to “AzerNews”.
Apples accustomed to the culture of Azerbaijan that every autumn Guba region celebrates an Apple Festival that attract many foreign tourists. Not only the trees, but the town also turns red and gold, as everything is painted in apple hues.
The queen of all apples in Azerbaijan is undoubtedly “Gizilahmadi”. If you ask the Azerbaijanis to call their favorite apple, the first thing that will come to their minds would be, for sure, Gizilahmadi.
This kind of apple, having extraordinary flavor is relatively small than others and has beautiful appetizing red color. Its aroma is so intense that probably, the snake in the Garden of Eden seduced Eve mainly with this magnificent apple.
This kind of apple is like a bunch of vitamins. Doctors talk for hours about its benefit, as Gizilahmadi contains a large amount of iron, which very useful for children, pregnant women and those who suffer from lack of iron.
Due to its useful properties, many say that it is more precious than gold. This also shows why this is called Gizilahmadi (“gizil” means “gold” in Azerbaijani).
Generated locally, Gizilahmadi is mostly grown up in Ismailli, Sheki, Guba and Zagatala regions. From the 1,000 hectares of fruits field located in Ismailli region, 70 hectares are constituting Gizilahmadi apple.
Azerbaijan is also famous for its “Paradise apples” (Jannat almasi). These small and cute sorts of apples look like golden crab apples but taste far sweeter.
Azerbaijanis usually use them for preparing Murabba (jam or confiture). This jam is usually eaten by the spoonful with tea, rather than bread. After cooking they are like jelly and you can enjoy their gorgeous taste, holding their long and thin stems.
Exports
Azerbaijani apple exports are approximately around 400,000 tons each year, with wholesale price of high-quality Guba apples ranging between 0.27-0.32 euros.
According to ABC.AZ, the mass apple harvest in the Guba district began in the second decade of September.
A portion of the harvested appled is sold in local and capital city markets, as well as in other regions of Azerbaijan. However, the majority of the produce is intended for export, mainly for Russian markets, according to “Freshplaza”.
A local farmer reports that the apples are sorted and packed directly in the orchards at the initial stage. Afterwards, the fruit is stored in special warhouses owned by the farmers and in cold storage facilities operating in the district.
“Currently, we are harvesting the white and red palmet apples. The yield in the orchards is good. We aim to harvest the apples on time. The top-grade apples are priced at 0.32 euros, while small apples are sold at 1.62-2.16 per box”, the farmer shares.
In total, the Guba district has 10,856 hectares of apple orchards, with 240 hectares recently planted. Of these, 1,520 hectares are cultivated using intensive methods.