Moldova's agriculture will continue to progress if the administration of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry is preserved, the chairman of the Farmers Federation of Moldova Vasile Marzenco said in a news conference on Thursday, quoted by Info-Prim Neo. According to Marzenco, the Gross Domestic Product in agriculture has increased by about 15% this year. This is the largest figure after reforms started to be implemented in the agricultural sector. This is mainly due to the policies promoted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry, especially those aimed at liberalizing the export of agri-food products. The chairman of the Farmers Federation said that all the barriers to the export of grains and alcoholic drinks and to the import of meat have been removed. The exports of other products like grapes have increased. The farmers were able to export grapes to Romania and Ukraine and the wine factories started to collect larger volumes of raw material and at higher prices,” Vasile Marzenco said. Speaking about the state subsidies in agriculture, the farmers' leader said the number of recipients rose from 2,800 in 2009 to 11,000 this year. He stressed the importance of creating product associations in accordance with the policy pursued by the Ministry of Agriculture. Vasile Marzenco said a major problem faced by the Moldovan farmers is the reduced access to professional information. There is no efficient system for transferring knowledge to farmers as in the developed Western states. “We, the members of the Farmers Federation, and the agricultural producers want to continue after elections the good practices started in 2010 together with the Ministry's administration. The farmers thank the administration and Minster Valeriu Cosarciuc personally for the provided support. As Cosarciuc is running as a candidate on the list of the Moldova Noastra Alliance, it is Moldovan farmers' moral obligation to support the given party in the parliamentary elections,” said Vasile Marzenco.