The Agriculture Committee held an off-site sitting in the village of Jighaura, Mtskheta Municipality, at the base of the LEPL Agricultural Scientific-Research Center.

At the sitting, the Director of the LEPL Agricultural Scientific-Research Center under the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture, Levan Ujmajuridze, presented a report on the Center’s activities.

Levan Ujmajuridze spoke about the work carried out by the Center in 2025 and the activities planned for 2026. The speaker placed particular emphasis on the main directions and objectives of the Center’s scientific and research activities.

According to him, one of the latest international recognitions is a large-scale scientific study conducted in China with the participation of 89 scientists from 23 institutions worldwide, including four Georgian researchers. The study, based on the molecular-genetic analysis of 3,525 grapevine varieties, revealed important new data regarding the evolution and domestication history of cultivated grapevine (Vitis vinifera sativa) and confirmed the “dual origin” scenario of grapevine domestication.

The Committee took note of the presented report.

Agriculture Committee also approved the composition of a working group that will prepare and submit the UNESCO nomination titled “Traditional Method of Brewing Beer in the Mountainous Regions of Georgia”.

According to the Chair of the Committee, Gela Samkharauli, the aim of the working group is to study the ancient traditional method of brewing beer in Georgia’s mountainous regions, prepare the relevant documentation, and submit the nomination to UNESCO so that the tradition may gain international recognition and secure a dignified place on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

The Committee also considered in the III reading and supported amendments to the Law “On Vine and Wine,” presented by Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture Zurab Ezugbaia.

The off-site sitting was attended by interns of the Parliament of Georgia, as well as members of the Student Parliament and Students Government.

Together with Members of Parliament, the young participants toured the unique collections of grapevine and fruit crops located at the Jighaura base of the Scientific-Research Center, as well as the laboratories at the Center’s Tsilkani base.