Moldovan viticulturists ask subsidies for modern technologies to increase crops
22:10 | 06.03.2018 Category: Economic
Chisinau, 06 March /MOLDPRES/ – The participants at Forum of the National Grape Producers appreciated 2017 as one of best on productivity. Firstly, Moldova obtained over one hundred thousand tons of table grapes. Over 100 grape producers and exporters, as well as national and local experts, took part in the Forum, organised by the Association of Table Grape Producers and Exporters today.
The grape growers said that subsidising modern technologies would allow to grow crops four times. The forum participants asked the Ministry of Agriculture, Regional Development and Environment (MADRM) and Agency for Intervention and Payment for Agriculture (AIPA) to subsidise investments to apply Pergola or Gable systems to establishment of vineyards.
At present, the classical method of grape production which is widely used in Moldova allows harvesting of about 08 – 10 tons of table grapes per hectare, while Pergola or Gable systems yield up to 45 – 50 tons of grapes per hectare.
The grape growing sector is developing, hence increased volume of grapes exported and expanded the geography of exports, with non – traditional destinations such as Mongolia or Dubai, said at the meeting the chairman of the Association of Table Grape Producers and Exporters and Director of the National Agency for Food Safety (ANSA), Gheorghe Gaberi.
The director of USAID Agricultural Producer project, Cynthia Steen, also stated that grape production has been a perspective sector for farmers in Moldova, so the project providing assistance for promotion of modern production technologies, including propagating material and diversification of export markets.
The mass grape growing sector is growing and about 750 hectares of modern vineyards are planted yearly. The harvest of grape reached a maximum quota of about 110 thousand tons in 2017, said representative of Ministry of Agriculture, Regional Development and Environment (MADRM), Valeriu Cebotari.
The National Forum was organized by the Association of Table Grape Producers and Exporters by financial support of USAID Agricultural Productivity Project in Moldova and HEKS Foundation in Moldova.
According to statistical data, there are almost 20,000 hectares of table grapes varieties in Moldova, which are located mainly in Cahul, Cantemir, Hincesti, Ialoveni and Gagauzia districts. The Moldovan grapes are exported to Russia, Romania, Belarus, Iraq and other countries. The European Union offered an export quota of 10,000 tonnes per year, free of customs duties, to table grapes produced in Moldova in 2014. The Moldovan grape exporters used that quota fully and even exceeded it in 2015, 2016 and 2017. The total surface area of vine in Moldova consists around 78,000 hectares, according to the National Vine and Wine Office.
(Reporter V. Bercu, editor M. Jantovan)
