Grape harvest to exceed last year's - experts say

Chisinau, 11 August /MOLDPRES/- Grape harvest in the Republic of Moldova, this year, will be 15% higher than last year and will be about 6-9 tons per hectare. Details on the state of vineyards and estimates of global grape production were discussed at the Council on the "Grapes, wine, wine-based products and processed products" product chain. According to the forecasts of the specialists, the harvesting of the grapes for wine will start in the middle of the second decade of September.

During the meeting it was announced that the supply of grapes for processing, according to data provided by the district agricultural directorates, this year is estimated at over 200 thousand tons (in 2020 160 thousand tons were processed). Specialists mentioned that the global grape harvest this year will be higher compared to last year, but the fruit is estimated to be over 20% lower than the average for the last five years, due to the severe drought in 2020, of frosts. late in the spring of 2021, as well as due to heavy rains.

At the same time, the main challenges in the sector were discussed at the meeting. Thus, the producers specified that in the current year, the expenses for the care of the vineyards have increased, as a result of carrying out additional works of chemical treatment of the vine against diseases / pests, of carrying out green works, as well as due to the increase. input prices (fuel, pesticides, fertilizers, etc.). For this reason, the purchase prices of the grapes are to be at least at the level of their cost prices, and in order to stimulate the production of a quality raw material, the purchase prices will be differentiated according to the variety and quality of the grapes.

Another problem highlighted by Council members is that, in recent times, traders of agricultural inputs (tractors, fuel, pesticides, fertilizers, etc.) have unduly increased the cost of products, which generates a non-competitive level of the price of grapes and to Moldovan wine products.

Regarding the export of wine products, following the information presented, the members of the Council mentioned that last year they amounted to 13.7 million dal in volume and worth 2 720.7 million lei. Compared to 2019, following the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, the export of wine in natural expression decreased by over 10.0%, and in value by over 7.0%. At the same time, the ratio of bottled wine to bulk increased by over 6% in volume and over 8% in value, and of wine-based products by over 7% in volume and about 6% in value. In 5 months of this year - in volume amounted to over 5.5 million dal (in the same period of 2019 - 5.7 million dal) and in value over 1 284 million lei (in 2019 - 1 130 million lei) .

The export of wine products is carried out in 63 countries. Top 10 states importing wine products from the Republic of Moldova is as follows: Romania, Russian Federation, Poland, Belarus, China, Georgia, Czech Republic, Ukraine, Germany, Kazakhstan.

Photo: Agroinfo