President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has made a trip to the Lankaran district.

The head of state viewed the conditions created in the newly established citrus orchard owned by “Lenk Fruit” Limited Liability Company (LLC) in the village of Separadi in the Lankaran district.

Director of “Lenk Fruit” LLC Namig Jabiyev briefed President Ilham Aliyev on the new citrus orchard. The orchard, spanning a total area of 150 hectares, is home to 141,000 citrus fruits, peach, and nectarine trees, mainly imported from Türkiye. The Entrepreneurship Development Fund granted a preferential loan of 1 million manats, and the Agrarian Credit and Development Agency under the Ministry of Agriculture provided an interest-free loan of 148,000 manats for the project with a total cost of 10.7 million manats.

In a groundbreaking initiative, 15 pieces of special equipment, valued at $2.2 million, were installed in the orchard to prevent frost during winter months, protecting 9 hectares of land per unit. The plan is to install five more such pieces of equipment in the coming years.

The orchard is set to cultivate tangerines, lemons (110 hectares), peaches (20 hectares), nectarines (5 hectares), and berry gardens (7 hectares). Anticipating a productivity of 35-40 tons per hectare, the orchard aims to exceed local varieties by 2-3 times.

In the economic year 2023-2024, 3,000 tons of crops have been harvested, and harvesting efforts are still underway. The fruits not only meet domestic demands but are also exported to Russia.

The enterprise employs 140 people.