In 2017 and 2018, Livingstone developed a plan for the production of high-quality small fruit and ornamental trees using tissue culture in Georgia. The project was planned in the vicinity of the port city of Batumi in the south of Georgia, but for economic reasons it is now planned for the Kutaisi region, which is more to the north and in the vicinity of a renewed airport.
Georgie has a great tradition when it comes to small fruit that is still being picked from the wild in large quantities to this day.
However, the quality of these products is not suitable for export and seldom meets the requirements of the consumers in the big cities.
The tissue culture laboratory, which will be installed in collaboration with a Dutch company, will start with a production of 1.5 million plants and will produce up to 5 to 8 million plants within a few years.
In particular, the special subsidy scheme of the Georgian government makes it very attractive for farmers to plant crops such as blueberries or replace their old plants.
In addition to small fruits and ornamental trees, large quantities of crops such as hazelnuts are also expected to be produced to meet the growing demand for replacement varieties in the Middle East and Turkey.
