Approximately 70 national producers from a number of country’s districts will exhibit their products at the fair “Take Moldova Home” at the Alunelul Park in Buiucani district of Chisinau on March 6 and 7. The organizers said over 100 producers announced their intention to take part, but fewer were accepted owing to the restrictions imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, IPN reports.
Diana Crudu, a member of the National Farmers Federation who is in charge of the organization of the event, said the small producers at the fair sell grapes, apples, dried fruit, chocolate-covered fruit, bee honey, aged cheese, wines and handicrafts. Some 90% of the participants in the fair are women running agribusinesses. Priority was given to them because the event is held before the 8th of March.
“It is homage we want to render to women in the Republic of Moldova by honoring their work, not by pitying them. In the Republic of Moldova, there are women who act. When they cannot export fresh apples, they dry them and turn them into chips or come with a dessert of chocolate-covered fruit. The same happens in the case of plums and walnut kernel that are sold dipped into chocolate,” stated Diana Crudu.
The producers who are present at the fair are from different regions of the country. “We have exhibitors from all over the Republic of Moldova, including from Slobozia Mare, who make the famous spicy salami “kavurma” from mutton. There are also producers from Soroca, with dehydrated fruit, from Drochia, with aged cheese, older than 12 months, from Pelinia village. We also gave priority to a producer from Transnistria, with ewe’s cheese. We accepted Russian speakers so as to somehow show that agriculture can unite us. If the political class divides us, you should know that agriculture unites us. We wanted it to be not a simple fair, but a holiday of labor and women,” said Diana Crudu, noting the participants include engineers, IT specialists and journalists who develop agribusinesses and beekeeping businesses.
She also said that Moldova needs an agrifood market, a serious platform on which the national producers could sell their products if not daily, at least two times a week, as in the Netherlands, where local markets are staged on Wednesday and Saturday and bring together 40-50 local producers.
According to Diana Crudu, the other producers that could not be accepted to take part in the fair “Take Moldova Home” will be able to exhibit their goods at a specialized exhibition at the International Exhibitions Center “Moldexpo” before Easter.
Rodica Galenco, head of the socioeconomic division of the Buiucani district head’s office, said “Take Moldova Home” is at its third edition and this year it will be open in Alunelul Park between 9am and 7pm on March 6 and 7. The goal of the event is to support small national producers.
