US government to support development of Moldovan fruit, grape exports
12:26 | 01.10.2021 Category: Economic
Chisinau, 1 October /MOLDPRES/- The project of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) High-Value Agriculture in Moldova provides grants to support innovative skills development and joint promotion of fruit and grape exports to the European Union or other non-traditional markets for the horticultural sector of the Republic of Moldova. The deadline for applications is November 1.
The grants are meant to support and speed up development of export skills, market diversification and increase the value of Moldovan exports of fresh fruit and grapes.
The total value of the grants to be awarded under this call for funding is 1.2 million lei, in which the selected beneficiaries will receive individual amounts between 300 thousand and one million lei. In order to demonstrate a commitment to the activity, a contribution from the applicant of at least: 30% of the total value of the activity is required for non-profit organizations and companies that have not previously received funding from the EPA; 50% of the total value of the activity for the commercial companies that previously benefited from financing from APM.
In the last 15 years, Moldovan producers of table fruits and grapes have made substantial investments in expanding the areas of these multiannual crops, with an increasing use of intensive production technologies, which have resulted in increasing the global harvest of these crops. Thus, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, in the period 2010-2020 the total production of these crops at least doubled: in the case of apples increased from 210 to 611 thousand tons, in the case of stone fruits - from 79 to 191 thousand tons, and in the case of table grapes - from 66 to 112 thousand tons. According to the forecasts of the Horticulture Development Program for the years 2021-2025, by 2025 the harvest of these crops will increase by 30-50%. Fresh exports have been the engine of this progress, accounting for about 50% of total production volume.
Photo: agrobiznes.md
