Armenian Forests, Kotayk
Kotayk, Kotayk Region, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Tufenkian Foundation 2006
As part of work for the Tufenkian Foundation in Armenia, today took me to Kotayk Region of Armenia where the Armenian Forests NGO have a project to replant trees in a village of the same name. As concerns are raised regarding deforestation and desertification in Armenia, Panaroma.am reports that some parts of the country are again experiencing drought.
Drought started across the regions of Armenia, Zarui Petrosyan, department head at the Armenian hydremeteorological service told Panorama.am. In her words, at the moment the level of temperature of air is above 4-6 degree. There will be no precipitations in the country until the end of the month with June 22 and 23 the hottest.
The drought was a complete surprise for the ministry of agriculture. In the words of the department head on relations with the ministry Vahag Martirosyan drought was not anticipated at the beginning of the year. Such a disaster covering the republic was reported only 5 years ago. The ministry of agriculture refutes to forecast the damage.
No surprise to discover that much of the work undertaken by the Armenian Forests NGO is reliant on effective watering using storage tanks and irrigation. It’s blatantly obvious that future generations and the ecosystem in Armenia really deserve greater attention at the moment, which is why after writing an article on the campaign to save Shikahogh last year it’s good to be touching upon the environment through this work now.
Kotayk, Kotayk Region, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Tufenkian Foundation 2006
BTW: Quite coincidently, I had been to the village of Kotayk earlier in the year to look at the SOS Kinderdorf Village for orphaned and abandoned children. There’s more on that at http://oneworld.blogsome.com/category/sos-kinderdorf/
Comment by Onnik — June 22, 2006 @ 9:04 am
Onnik, why do you think the planting of the trees is being done in June? It’s already the dry season and in order to keep the seedlings from drying up, they will need regular watering. I see there is a cistern but it would have been cheaper if the nature took care of this.
I’ve also noticed that no planting is done during the Autumn months. My experience has been that trees planted in late October or during the November have much higher chances of survival.
During the early 90-s I took part in tzaratunk-s in the Vanadzor area. They were done during the month of April. Unfortunately, a lot of effort and resources were spent on this and there is nothing to show for it now. Almost none of the seedlings have survived.
Comment by nazarian — June 22, 2006 @ 9:11 pm
One more thought. Perhaps the type of the trees being planted should be revised. Mulberries like warm climate and should become more and more suitable as the temperatures rise. They are also very easy to plant and have higher chances of survival. Plus they grow very fast.
Comment by nazarian — June 22, 2006 @ 9:15 pm
Nazarian, in this case it wasn’t the planting of trees. It was a routine visit to check the irrigation.
Comment by Onnik — June 23, 2006 @ 8:05 am
MENACE OF DROUGHT IN GEGHARQOUNIK
[06:26 pm] 23 June, 2006
According to the information from the Gegharqounik regional department of «Armhydromet», the last rain in Gegharqounik fell about 40 days ago. The lasting drought has caused a damage of about 47 billion AMD. The corn is mown as grass, and the crops of wheat and potato are in serious danger.
For the last seven years about 400 thousand tons of grass was stored annually. This year only 30% of the total sum will be stored.
The agronomists mention that even if it rains now, it will be of no help for the crops.
http://www.a1plus.am/en/?page=issue&iid=40349
ARIDITY IN SISIAN REGION
[07:07 pm] 22 June, 2006
150 hectares lands out of 672 hectares of Aghitu community in Syunik marz are autumn sowing areas and 210 hectares are spring sowing areas of barley and spelt.
Hrachik Hayrapetyan, regional head claims that peasants took agricultural credits to sow their lands. But at present they don’t have any expectations to get rich harvest and repay their debts because of the regional aridity. It is noteworthy that it hasn’t rained for two months.
According to the Sisian meteorological centre the air temperature surpassed the normal index. No rains fell in June and the temperature went up by 5 degrees. The grain cultured plants are already yellowing because of the high temperature and absence of humidity. Many fields cannot be reaped at all because of the corn shortness.
The on-going aridity may have serious outcome on the regional budget. The regional heads are also concerned about the cattle preservation. The on-going aridity may arouse the problem of fodder accumulation. The pastures deprived of humidity have their negative impact on the milk-yield index. Bee-keeping is also in terrible state in Sisian.
http://www.a1plus.am/en/?page=issue&iid=40302
Comment by Onnik — June 24, 2006 @ 10:38 am