Environmentally friendly agriculture is an opportunity for Moldova promoting its produce in EU: Romanian Agriculture Minister

The environmentally-friendly agriculture is an opportunity for Moldova to promote its produce on the EU market, since the demand there is much bigger than the offer of these products, says Romanian's Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Dacian Ciolos. If the Moldovan Government undertook measures to ensure the work of some certifying bodies according to the same rules as in the EU, it would be very easy for Moldova to supply environmentally-friendly produce to the EU market, the Romanian Minister said in Chisinau on October 23, after the reunion of the Agriculture Ministers of the Central European Initiative (CEI) countries, Info-Prim Neo reports. For that Moldova needs better technology, because it does not mean not using fertilizers, but also seeking alternatives to get high yields. The producers of these products should be very well trained to know what technology to use, what cultures to plant, and how to sell their output, added Dacian Ciolos. He stated Romania would be willing to exchange experience with Moldova in terms of cultures, technologies and creating new markets. Moldovan Agriculture and Food Minister Anatolie Gorodenco said this country had advanced a lot in terms of developing environmentally-friendly agriculture, as 13,300 ha of these cultures are planted. In 2009, they plan to cultivate some 20,000 ha of environmentally-friendly cultures. The development of the Moldovan agriculture also requires continuous expansion of irrigated surfaces, re-launching the animal breeding by producing pork and chicken meat. “I two years, I think we'll be able to supply ourselves with meat fully,” Anatolie Gorodenco said. Now Moldova imports 20,000 tonnes of meat, as the yearly consumption is 130,000 tonnes. The Central European Initiative (CEI) is a flexible formula of regional cooperation joining 18 states: Albania, Austria, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, the Czech Rep., Croatia, Italy, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Serbia, Ukraine, Hungary. It goals consist in deepening the cohesion between the member countries and in assisting them to develop stable democracies and market economies, and to prepare to join the EU.