Government will plant nut trees along railways and national highways

The Government charged the Ministry of Transports and Road Management to plant plum and nut trees along national highways and railways. These actions are to be implemented in the autumn of the current year, and during the next year. Local public administrations of 1st and second level area also involved in the process – they are due to secure plantations of nut trees along local roads. The Forestry Agency “Moldsilva” shall contribute by providing the necessary volume of quality seedlings, and the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources is obliged to support the financial part of the plantation from the Ecological fund or from “other sources”. The Prime Minister Vasile Tarlev declared, as part of the Executive’s session, on Wednesday November 1, that the respective branch is of great importance for the R. of Moldova. According to the PM, a special program for supporting the branch as well as a subvention system has been approved. Tarlev made it clear that planting trees along national highways takes place in the context of attracting foreign investments to the road infrastructure, starting next year. “There is an imposing sum for investment in road infrastructure for the next year, and all the investment grants coming from international financial bodies will be directed, mainly to this field” mentioned Tarlev. The Ministry of Agriculture and Food industry (MAIA) intends to increase over 5-fold the surface of nut trees plantations, in order to reach an essential growth of the export volume of quality kernel, extremely demanded on European markets. The Ministry plans to reach, till 2015, the total number of 16,000 ha for such plantations. Earlier, the deputy Minister of MAIA, Anatol Spivacenco, told Info-Prim Neo that the program of expanding nut tree plantations already last for 3 years, and at a time with the finishing of the autumn planting works of the existing 3,000 ha, other 400 ha planted in the current year, will be added. The intention is to plant about 1,000 ha per year in the next several years. Resources from the Nut Support Fund, created by collecting 1% from the volumes of the exported nuts, are used for the subvention of 50 % from the activities related to the production of the nut seedlings, for planting and maintaining plantations. Nut producers repeatedly mentioned though that the resources of the fund are to low in order to re-launch the branch. Statistics show that 10,000 tonnes of nut kernels are annually exported at a medium price of EUR 5 per kg.