More and more Moldovans start agricultural businesses that are not traditional for Moldova. They choose to grow strawberries until late in autumn or blackberries. The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry encourages such initiatives. The farmers say they found out about such businesses on the Internet or started to collect information after sawing how expensive these imported products are. A farmer who cultivates strawberries in the open air until November has told Info-Prim Neo that initially he invested 400,000 lei in purchasing the plants needed for a hectare, watering devices and other necessary tools. “We will gather strawberries for one more month and I think we will recoup the made investments. The plants are now in blossom and have green fruits. I will try to move them to a greenhouse. Maybe they will get ripe yet,” said the producer. A woman from Tipala has grown blackberries for four years. She has a plantation of over three hectares. She said that she did not recover the invested money yet, but was offered a subsidy by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry. The blackberries are sold frozen or as jam. She also makes wine from blackberries. “I saw that the blackberries are very dear in supermarkets and decided to find out more about how they are cultivated,” said the woman. Contacted by Info-Prim Neo, Minister of Agriculture Vasile Bumacov said the number of farmers who develop nontraditional businesses in Moldova is on the rise. They are inspired by the agricultural experience of other states. “We are very glad that the cultivation of wild strawberries in our country is expanding. The berries are products with high value added. Many big foreign hotels serve blackberries and strawberries in the morning. They are in great demand,” he stated. Vasile Bumacov also said that the Moldovans started to grow fruit using modern technology. They now cultivate more sorts of table grapes, which were earlier imported into Moldova. “There are also growers of pumpkins and this is an unusual business too,” he said, stressing that these farmers promote the culture of eating dishes from pumpkin. The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry subsidizes incipient agricultural businesses and teaches the farmers how to apply for financing within different foreign projects so as to develop their businesses. Many of their products can be found at the Ecological Fair staged near the Ministry’s building on Saturdays and Sundays.