Volunteer Shares Expertise in Plastic Greenhouse Construction and Management

Since 2001 ACDI/VOCA’s Armenia Farmer-to-Farmer (FtF) Program has implemented numerous assignments to support the development of Armenia’s commercial greenhouse industry. Most of the outstanding work conducted in this sector can be credited to ACDI/VOCA volunteer Dr. David Adams.

Dr. Adams’s ongoing efforts have created a significant improvement and increase in production and income for commercial greenhouse owners across Armenia. According to data gathered by the Armenian Greenhouse Association, from 2007 to 2008 alone the owners have seen a 15 percent increase in sales and a 10 percent increase in the total number of commercial greenhouses privately owned and operated for fruit and vegetable production.

Dr. Adams first introduced irrigation systems to these Armenian greenhouse owners in 2002. Today about 15 hectares of greenhouse area, owned by separate private growers, are irrigated by drip irrigation systems, and this number is still growing. As a result of new technologies and proper training, the producers have achieved significant results, including increasing their savings on fertilizer by 300 percent, reducing by fifteenfold the amount of water used, and cutting crop diseases by half.

Dr. Adams has also played a huge role in setting up local soil testing equipment brought from the United States to conduct quick and reliable soil tests. Previously, the soil samples were sent to the Netherlands for testing, but use of the new equipment has reduced the greenhouse owners’ costs by 10 times and the processing time by 14 days.

During the summer of 2007, Dr. Adams visited Armenia to help two local farmers with plastic greenhouse design and operational requirements. This assignment was conducted under a joint effort with ACDI/VOCA’s Water-to-Market Activity (WTM), which is funded by the Millennium Challenge Corporation. The WTM team was extremely satisfied with Dr. Adams’s work, and hired him in the spring of 2008 as a short-term consultant to construct 12 plastic greenhouses in various regions.

Dr. Adams’s contribution to the development of the commercial greenhouse industry in Armenia is well worth noting. His name is known throughout Armenia for his professionalism and dedication. ACDI/VOCA’s FtF program is proud to cooperate with professionals of this level and is thankful for Dr. Adams’s contribution of his valuable time and knowledge to the producers in Armenia.