The vegetables grown in the pedoclimatic conditions in Moldova are of a higher quality than those grown in other states, but their appearance must be improved, director of the Institute of Genetics, Physiology and Plant Protecting of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova Vasile Botnari has told IPN.

According to Botnari, Moldova’s black soil is rich in different microelements that significantly contribute to an improved quality of the vegetables. In Moldova, emphasis was put on the quality of products, to the detriment of the external aspect. In other countries, stress was laid on the appearance of the goods so as to make them more attractive. That’s why we often have very attractive, but not very tasty imported products on the home market.

“Work is yet to be done to improve aspect. Regretfully, we got used to another market and other requirements as regards the quality of vegetables. We took more the tasting qualities into account. There were created sorts of vegetables with better appearance, buy we are yet to improve the cultivation technologies. The good products need appropriate packing,” stated the scientist.

Vasile Botnari added that some of the Moldovan vegetables are not yet competitive with those from Europe, such as the carrots and cabbage. The weather conditions for them are not favorable in Moldova, as the temperatures are very high.

As many as 629 sorts of vegetables or 39 species were homologated in Moldova, as against 60 species in Romania, 160 species in France and 200 species in Japan.