Moldovan government to undertake needed measures to reestablish seeds branch, back scientific researchers

Chisinau, 27 October /MOLDPRES/ - Prime Minister Ion Chicu today paid a working visit to the Porumbeni Plant Growing Institute. The PM and the enterprise’s researchers and employees discussed measures needed to be undertaken to revive the seeds sector, the government’s communication and protocol department has reported.  

Ion Chicu referred to the necessity to enhance the potential of seeds’ export, noting that the cabinet would take needed measures to this end. ‘’The reestablishment of the seeds branch is a priority for us, a heritage which must be developed. We continue exporting seeds to traditional markets; yet, it is necessary to increase these capacities. We will revise the regulation on subsidization in agriculture, so that the production of seeds is supported by the state. We will strengthen the technical and material basis of the Porumbeni Institute,’’ the prime minister said.      

At the same time, the participants in the meeting considered the need to implement amendments to the legislation, in order to cease the exodus of young people from the science sector. ‘’It is necessary to support the young employees and here we will change the government decision, in order to enforce also for young researchers the measures which we apply for teachers and physicians on the allowance worth 120,000 lei,’’ Ion Chicu said.  

Among the problems invoked by the Institute’s employees, there is the lack of a fridge to maintain the genetic fund, as well as the important collections of the institute. The staff referred to the need of an irrigation system, as well as the necessity to endow the laboratory with modern equipment. A subject discussed at the visit was also the regulation of the process of registering the copyright for hybrids, as well as the possibility of switch to another organization form of the Institute.    

Attending the event, Agriculture, Regional Development and Environment Minister Ion Perju said that a concrete action plan on this subject was prepared. ‘’We want actions on the entire value chain - beginning with the training of the scientific staff up to the subsidization. We discuss with representatives of the scientific institutions, economic agents the technical measures needed. Subsequently, we will come up with a Government Decision,’’ Minister Perju noted.      

The enterprise’s management showed the PM an exhibition of hybrids, stressing that 73 new species, of which 49 were included in the State Official Registers, had been worked out in the last three years. ‘’The hybrids which we produce are pretty tolerant to drought; therefore, they enjoy the success of native producers. Maize is the only agricultural crop which contains Gold; therefore, what we grow here is wealth in the full sense of the word, which provides the state’s food security,’’ the director of the Porumbeni Plant Growing Institute, Anatol Spivarenco, said.         

The Porumbeni Plant Growing Institute annually produces about 120-150 tons of parental forms, from which about 4,000 tons of seeds are got. About 50 per cent remain on the domestic market and the rest is exported to Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan. A number of 120 specialists work at the Porumbeni Institute, of whom 25 ones are scientific researchers.   

Photo: Government