Producer from north Moldova district implements modern technologies, accesses more foreign markets

Chisinau, 14 July /MOLDPRES/ - A farmer from the northern Drochia district, who manages orchards of sweet cherries, apricots, apples and plums, has said that, due to the training and assistance provided by national and international experts, he managed to harvest quality fruits, competitive on international markets.    

The business of the Burlacu brothers started in 2018 with an orchard of apples and plums. ‘’I made a mistake, as I planted without being informed. Afterwards, I saw that one can make progress only if implementing modern technologies and we starting planting apricots intensively. The Kyoto variety is very good, I chose it and I am quite proud of this. It is transportable, has an attractive look, we can deposit in in fridge, which provides us respite to negotiate and sell at a better price,’’ Maxim Burlacu said.   

Given that the quality fruits produced in Moldova are more and more demanded on the European market, with the effective support of the High Value Agricultural Activity in Moldova project of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the farmer is implementing GLOBALG.A.P standards, which confirms the quality and inoffensiveness of fruits and the good agricultural practices observed by the farm.   

The quality of the orchard owned by bother Burlacu was also appreciated by international expert Samuele Caroli, who periodically provides assistance to take care of the orchard within the USAID project. ‘’This orchard was founded according to all requirements and exigencies of a correct plantation. This is an orchard with a high intensity,’’ Samuele Caroli, an Italian expert in producing apricots, said.      

Presently, apricots account for only 3.2 per cent of the area of orchards in Moldova and are planted on about 4.6 thousands hectares. The best conditions for cultivating apricots are registered in the southern, south-eastern and central regions. In the last years, the cultivation of apricots has penetrated in the northern region as well.   

In 2021, Moldova exported 4,782 tons of apricots. Unlike several years ago, the destinations of exports were diversified, standing at 15 countries, of which 12 European Union member states. Nevertheless, the biggest exports were made to Ukraine and Russia, accounting to 64.7 per cent of all exports, even if these destinations supplied a lower price. Moldovan producers got the highest price on the market of Germany – 2 dollars/kg, followed by France, Lithuania and the Netherlands.

In last June, which is the beginning of apricots’ season, 1,202 tons were exported, of which 291 reached EU countries, such as Germany, Romania, Poland, Lithuania. The apricots’ season will continue till late July in Moldova.