InternationalVisiting the Debed River’s fertile valley
It is also home to the disappearing Udi nation
Published: Friday July 10, 2009
The fertile Debed valley, where Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia intersect, as seen from Odzun. Tatul Hakobyan / Armenian Reporter
During the Soviet years, Noyemberian and peaches were synonymous. The peaches here were so incomparably delicious that a village with the name Deghtsavan was established. (Deghts is Armenian for peach.) In 1972, several dozen families from the different villages in the Georgian region of Tsalka moved and established Deghtsavan, which today has 350 inhabitants. Deghtsavan is well-known not only because of its peaches, but because it borders two countries - Georgia and Azerbaijan.
The village head of Deghtsavan, Robert Hovhanessian, says that the peach orchards in the village also dried up in the 1990s because of the energy crisis, when it became impossible to irrigate.
"Now we are rehabilitating them. Here, we have an excellent harvest of peaches. 40 hectares have already been restored. But selling the harvest continues to remain unresolved. During the Soviet years, not only did the Ayrum Preserve factory buy them, but we used to ship them by train to the other Soviet republics. Individual farmers would take the peaches in their own cars all the way to the Black Sea for the tourists," he said.
On my way back home I walk along the banks of the Debed River. The main highway runs parallel to it. People have already placed their harvest on the side of the road for sale. Here, just like in the Soviet days, the farmers sell their peaches not by the kilogram, but by the pail. If you happen to find yourselves in this region, and want to buy the delicious peaches of Noyemberian, then you will have to buy one pail. Just like me.
