Experts recommend apricot producers to adopt modern technologies for profit

Chisinau, 21 November /MOLDPRES/- The production of apricots can become a profitable activity for Moldovan farmers, due to the high demand on the foreign market. For this, farmers should turn to modern varieties, intensive plantings and innovative production technologies. Statements were made by experts of USAID/APM project, and were set in the first technological manual on apricot production, which was recently published.

In Moldova, apricot orchards account for only 2.9 percent of the total area of orchards, which is about 3.4 thousand hectares, located largely in the southern, southeast and center areas. In 2017, the total production of apricots in Moldova was about 13 thousand tons, of which about 3.2 thousand tons were exported mainly to CIS countries.

USAID/APM project specialist Eugeniu Gudumac says that Moldovan producers need to adopt modern production technologies that generate profits to export apricots. At present, the productivity of apricot orchards in Moldova is much lower compared to orchards in Europe or Asia. According to statistics, the average yield of apricots in the orchards in Moldova is 3-6 tons of fruit per hectare, compared to intensive orchards, where the average yield exceeds 20 tons per hectare.

In 2017, 143.8 hectares of apricot orchards were set up in Moldova, most of them - up to 800 trees per hectare. This year super-intensive apricot orchards began to be planted.  

The USAID/APM project aims to help farmers in 2016-2021 increase competitiveness of high-value domestic agricultural products and increase sales on domestic and international markets.