The ecological agriculture by 2020 will cover 15% of the farmland in Moldova, as against 3.6% or 53,000 hectares at present, Iurie Senic, section head at the Ministry of Agriculture, said in a workshop, quoted by IPN.

In 2012, there were sold 18,000 tonnes of ecological products grown in Moldova, to the value of €15 million. They included mainly wheat, corn, sunflower, and soybean. Effort has been made to include the oleaginous plants (lavender) and the berries in the ecological production circuit. “The producers must understand that their efforts are not useless. The demand for ecological products is increasing on the foreign markets. A day will come when they will be in demand on the home market too,” said the specialist.

Andrei Garlea from Rezina district, who started to grow ecological products several years ago, said that he faces a shortage of workforce. “Ecological agriculture needs more manual work, especially when growing such plants as lavender, while the bill on day work gathers dust in drawers. The certification procedures must be simplified, while the subsidies for ecological agriculture should be increased,” he stated. Farmer Vitalie Pintilei referred to land consolidation, saying it remains a topical problem.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry Ion Sula said there are examined different possibilities for helping the farmers who cultivate ecological products, including by increasing the guarantees provided by the state on the loans taken out by them from banks. More possibilities of obtaining subsidies will appear after the signing of the Free Trade Agreement with the EU, added the official.

Fifty producers are involved in ecological agriculture in Moldova.