President Aliyev explores cutting-edge agricultural innovations at Gusar's "Ismikhanli" complex PHOTO

On April 30, 2025, the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, visited the horticulture and cold storage complex of the "Ismikhanli" Limited Liability Company (LLC) in the Gusar district.

During the visit, Minister of Economy Mikayil Jabbarov provided a detailed briefing on the complex's operations, Caliber.Az reports, citing domestic media.

The company has developed advanced intensive orchards across 330 hectares in Gusar and 30 hectares in Agsu. These orchards feature 230 hectares of apple trees, 35 hectares of pear trees, 26 hectares of peach trees, 21 hectares of nectarine trees, and 18 hectares of cherry trees. The intensive orchard model is designed to optimize land use, boosting agricultural productivity.

The complex ensures year-round sales and export of the harvested fruits, distributing them locally and exporting to countries such as Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Russia.

To guarantee high-quality agro-technical practices, experts from Türkiye, Italy, and Spain have been engaged. The orchard employs highly efficient drip irrigation technology, which enhances environmental sustainability by minimizing water loss. The farm also utilizes modern machinery sourced from leading global manufacturers.

The cold storage facility, which became operational in October 2023, includes an 8,700-ton capacity refrigerated fruit storage area, a sorting and packaging zone, a materials warehouse, and loading docks. The storage area is equipped with 29 refrigeration chambers, each with a 300-ton capacity.

State-of-the-art sorting equipment categorizes the fruits based on color, shape, and size, ensuring that the packaging meets market standards. Additionally, the sorting area includes machinery capable of producing over a thousand folding and gluing packaging boxes per hour.

The "Ismikhanli" horticulture and cold storage complex, a project valued at 18 million manats, has created 270 permanent jobs and 400 seasonal positions. The Entrepreneurship Development Fund under the Ministry of Economy provided a concessional loan of 3.3 million manats to support the project, which also benefited from customs and tax exemptions for imported equipment.

By Tamilla Hasanova